- Spain’s data watchdog has suspended Meta’s election-related products ahead of the EU vote.
- The agency expressed concern that the products were collecting excessive data from Facebook and Instagram users.
- Meta, which is also facing an EU investigation, complied with the order despite not agreeing to it.
Spain’s data watchdog has put the brakes on two election-related products from Meta that were due to be rolled out ahead of the upcoming European elections.
The Spanish Data Protection Agency announced on May 31 that it had suspended Meta’s Election Day Information and Voter Information Unit products over concerns that the products were collecting unnecessary election data from Facebook and Instagram users.
The products were meant to provide reminders to Facebook and Instagram users about the European Parliament elections, which are scheduled to begin on June 6th.
But the Spanish Data Protection Agency said Meta could be able to “process personal data such as usernames, IP addresses, age and gender,” potentially violating the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Its suspension will be in effect for three months.
“The authorities consider that the company’s planned data collection and storage will seriously endanger the rights and freedoms of Instagram and Facebook users by increasing the amount of information collected by Meta and allowing for more complex, detailed and intensive profiling, as well as more intrusive processing,” a translation of the authorities’ statement read.
Meta said in a statement to Reuters that it complies with EU data regulations.
“Our election tools are explicitly designed to respect user privacy and comply with GDPR. While we disagree with the AEPD’s assessment of this matter, we have cooperated with their requests,” a company spokesman told Reuters.
A Meta spokesperson did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.
The suspension came after the European Commission, the EU’s executive body, launched an investigation in April into Meta’s “policies and practices regarding false advertising and political content on its services.” In response, a Meta spokesman told Reuters the company has “established processes to identify and mitigate risks on our platform.”
