Consent-or-pay: Difference between revisions
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'''Consent-or-pay''' is a business tactic in response to the European Union's ''[[General Data Protection Regulation]]'' [[General Data Protection Regulation|(GDPR)]]. Under this model, users of a website must either: | '''Consent-or-pay''', or '''consent-or-okay''', is a business tactic in response to the European Union's ''[[General Data Protection Regulation]]'' [[General Data Protection Regulation|(GDPR)]]. Under this model, users of a website must either: | ||
*'''Consent''' to the use of cookies and personal data for targeted advertising, '''or''' | *'''Consent''' to the use of cookies and personal data for targeted advertising, '''or''' | ||
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==Meta investigation and fine== | ==Meta investigation and fine== | ||
After a year-long investigation by the European Commission, [[Meta]] was fined on 23 April 2025 for failing to comply with the [[Digital Markets Act]] (DMA). The European Commission's investigation targeted Meta's consent-or-pay model because it failed to meet the DMA's criteria of reducing personalized data for targeted ads and it does not allow users to freely consent.<ref>{{Cite web |date=30 Jun 2024 |title=Commission sends preliminary findings to Meta over its "Pay or Consent" model for breach of the Digital Markets Act |url=https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_24_3582 |website=European Commission}}</ref> Consequently, Meta was fined with €228 million in the month of April, and | After a year-long investigation by the European Commission, [[Meta]] was fined on 23 April 2025 for failing to comply with the [[Digital Markets Act]] (DMA). The European Commission's investigation targeted Meta's consent-or-pay model because it failed to meet the DMA's criteria of reducing personalized data for targeted ads and it does not allow users to freely consent.<ref>{{Cite web |date=30 Jun 2024 |title=Commission sends preliminary findings to Meta over its "Pay or Consent" model for breach of the Digital Markets Act |url=https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_24_3582 |website=European Commission}}</ref> Consequently, Meta was fined with €228 million in the month of April, and by July, the European Commission warned that the social media company may face accrued daily fines if they continue employing this tactic.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Foo Yun Chee |title=Meta may face daily fines over pay-or-consent model, EU warns |url=https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/meta-will-only-make-limited-changes-pay-or-consent-model-eu-says-2025-06-27/ |date=27 Jun 2025 |access-date=1 Sep 2025 |website=Reuters |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.is/WlLFg |archive-date=1 Sep 2025}}</ref> | ||
==Other uses== | ==Other uses== | ||
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*Le Parisien | *Le Parisien | ||
*Corriere della Sera | *Corriere della Sera | ||
*MeridioNews | *MeridioNews<gallery mode="slideshow"> | ||
File:Screenshot 20250910-195708 IronFox.png|alt=Screenshot of MeridioNews' consent-or-pay policy viewed on a mobile browser. (written in Italian)|Screenshot of MeridioNews' consent-or-pay policy appearing after rejecting cookies on [https://meridionews.it/piazzale-anita-garibaldi-ennesimo-raid-dei-vandali-la-provocazione-di-artale-mettiamo-una-garitta/ one of their articles] | |||
File:08cd9c3c-fd76-4cc0-bf9a-0e85d8133609.png|alt=(machine-translated from Italian) screenshot of MeridioNews' consent-or-pay policy appearing after rejecting cookies on one of their articles, viewed from a mobile device|(machine-translated) screenshot of MeridioNews' consent-or-pay policy | |||
</gallery> | |||
==Response== | ==Response== | ||
===Criticisms from policymakers=== | ===Criticisms from policymakers=== | ||
In 2024, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) published a non-binding opinion on "Valid Consent in the Context of Consent or Pay Models Implemented by Large Online Platforms." The | In 2024, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) published a non-binding opinion on "Valid Consent in the Context of Consent or Pay Models Implemented by Large Online Platforms." The board denotes that the consent-or-pay model does not constitute as valid consent and that appropriate alternative measures to the model should provide users with an "equivalent alternative". Additionally, they say that if a company wishes to use a payment model, then the opposing equal alternative should not involve processing personal data. Any choice in which users feel compelled to consent does not qualify as valid consent.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=17 Apr 2024 |title=EDPB: 'Consent or Pay' models should offer real choice |url=https://www.edpb.europa.eu/news/news/2024/edpb-consent-or-pay-models-should-offer-real-choice_en |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250711204531/https://www.edpb.europa.eu/news/news/2024/edpb-consent-or-pay-models-should-offer-real-choice_en |archive-date=11 Jul 2025 |access-date=1 Sep 2025 |website=European Data Protection Board}}</ref> | ||
Anu Talus, Chair of the EDPB, said:<blockquote>"Online platforms should give users a real choice when employing 'consent or pay' models. The models we have today usually require individuals to either give away all their data or to pay. As a result most users consent to the processing in order to use a service, and they do not understand the full implications of their choices."<ref name=":0" /></blockquote> | Anu Talus, Chair of the EDPB, said:<blockquote>"Online platforms should give users a real choice when employing 'consent or pay' models. The models we have today usually require individuals to either give away all their data or to pay. As a result most users consent to the processing in order to use a service, and they do not understand the full implications of their choices."<ref name=":0" /></blockquote> | ||
===Consumer advocates=== | ===Consumer advocates=== | ||
{{ | ''noyb'' is a data protection advocacy organization based in Austria that pays particular attention to the General Data Protection Regulation and its violations <ref>{{Cite web |title=About Us |url=https://noyb.eu/en/about-us |website=noyb}}</ref>. In November of 2023, the advocacy group filed an official complaint with the Austrian Data Protection Authority against tech giant Meta for lacking "any valid legal basis for [pay-or-okay]. [...] Meta is now trying to extort supposed consent from its users with a 'yes or pay' choice"<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 Nov 2023 |title=COMPLAINT UNDER ARTICLE 77(1) GDPR |url=https://noyb.eu/sites/default/files/2023-11/Complaint%20-%20Meta%20Pay%20or%20Okay%20-%20REDACTED.pdf |website=noyb - European Centre for Digital Rights}}</ref>. This complaint was due to the significant costs of rejection of personalized ads through Meta's [[Facebook]] for €12.99 per month and [[Instagram]] for €8 per month, approximating a combined total of €251.88 ($294.74USD) each year<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 Nov 2023 |title=noyb files GDPR complaint against Meta over "Pay or Okay" |url=https://noyb.eu/en/noyb-files-gdpr-complaint-against-meta-over-pay-or-okay |website=noyb}}</ref>. ''noyb'' continues to report that the tech giant sets a bad precedent for other social media platforms to follow suit, possibly leading to €35,000 per family for the simple act of data protection. | ||
==Effectiveness== | ==Effectiveness== | ||
The effects of the consent-or-pay model vary widely. | The effects of the consent-or-pay model vary widely. | ||
*Advertising Week | *Advertising Week reported in September of 2023 that only 30% of users accept the cookies after the GDPR<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mititelu |first=Andra |title=As the Open Marketplace Fails, Advertisers Are Turning to Publishers to Reach Audiences |url=https://advertisingweek.com/as-the-open-marketplace-fails-advertisers-are-turning-to-publishers-to-reach-audiences/ |website=Advertising Week |date=2023 | ||
|access-date=1 Sep 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927212627/https://advertisingweek.com/as-the-open-marketplace-fails-advertisers-are-turning-to-publishers-to-reach-audiences/ |archive-date=27 Sep 2023}}</ref> | |access-date=1 Sep 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927212627/https://advertisingweek.com/as-the-open-marketplace-fails-advertisers-are-turning-to-publishers-to-reach-audiences/ |archive-date=27 Sep 2023}}</ref>. | ||
* | *Also in 2023, The Drum reported that as much as 40% of users simply use a {{Wplink|VPN service|VPN}} in order to bypass the regional consent-or-pay web block<ref>{{Cite web |last=O'Connell |first=Vanessa |title=70% of consumers blocking cookies online, research shows |url=https://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2023/05/09/70-consumers-blocking-cookies-online-research-shows |website=The Drum |date=9 May 2023 |access-date=1 Sep 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511090722/https://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2023/05/09/70-consumers-blocking-cookies-online-research-shows |archive-date=11 May 2023}}</ref>. A VPN allows users to access webpages by rerouting their IP's to foreign countries, often seen as the most accessible and fair way to protect themselves from privacy violations. | ||
* | *In 2025, the Press Gazette stated, "When users are equally offered the chance to 'accept all' or 'reject all' cookies, consent rates are typically somewhere around 70-80%, according to both Skovgaards and Contentpass founder Dirk Freytag"<ref name="Press Gazette" />. | ||
==Alternative practices== | ==Alternative practices== | ||
The Guardian develops a new "contextual advertising" model that bases ads upon whatever page the user is currently viewing (i.e. food ingredients on a recipe page). They say, "It's a perfect advertising product for a privacy conscious brand and a brand doing the right thing." | The Guardian develops a new "contextual advertising" model that bases ads upon whatever page the user is currently viewing (i.e. food ingredients on a recipe page). They say, "It's a perfect advertising product for a privacy conscious brand and a brand doing the right thing." In 2023, they've report a 35% increase in clicks.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Maher |first=Bron |title=Guardian gets around readers who reject cookies with new advertising product |url=https://pressgazette.co.uk/marketing/guardian-light-reject-cookies-advertising-stereotype/ |url-access=limited |website=Press Gazette |date=21 Nov 2023 |access-date=1 Sep 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231128184011/https://pressgazette.co.uk/marketing/guardian-light-reject-cookies-advertising-stereotype/ |archive-date=28 Nov 2023}}<nowiki>}}</nowiki></ref> | ||
==See also== | |||
[[Europe-based news sites enact consent-or-pay for data tracking]] | |||
[https://noyb.eu/en/years-inactivity-pay-or-ok-cases-noyb-sues-german-dpas Years of inactivity in “Pay or OK” cases: noyb sues German DPAs] | |||
[https://noyb.eu/en/noybs-pay-or-okay-report-how-companies-make-you-pay-privacy noyb's Pay or Okay report: how companies make you pay for privacy] | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||