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In September 2020, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) released new guidelines on the targeting of social media users (Guidelines) for consultation.

Background

The Guidelines address the privacy risks and legal issues that arise when social media services are used to direct specific messages to users based on particular criteria, such as the users’ perceived interests, preferences and socio-demographic characteristics.

 A typical example of this is when a brand (or ‘advertiser’) advertises their products or services on individuals’ social media platforms. Through programmatic advertising (the automated buying and selling of online advertising) and the process of ‘real-time bidding’ (the automated bidding of display advertising inventory in real-time) in particular, advertisers can place personalised adverts on individuals’ social media platforms (e.g. through content feeds or ‘stories’). This process usually involves processing personal data in bid requests, which can include individuals’ web browsing history, age, gender, location and network connections. Advertisers submit bids to have their adverts placed on individuals’ social media pages based on the perceived likelihood that the individual will be interested. Generally, the more detailed the bid request, the higher the bids are likely to be, so there is more incentive for the parties involved to collect as much personal data as possible through the use of tracking technologies or otherwise. Further, parties within the ad tech ecosystem (such as data brokers) may augment the data collected from the bid request with information from other sources (including offline sources), which they might sell to other stakeholders involved in the targeting process.

The Guidelines split the types of actors involved in the targeting process into four different groups, namely: (1) social media providers; (2) social media users; (3)  targeters (e.g. advertisers); and (4) ‘other actors’ which may be involved (e.g. supply side platforms (SSPs), demand side platforms (DSPs), data management platforms (DMPs), data brokers, ad networks and ad exchanges).

The Guidelines identify the potential risks of targeting for social media users, such as loss of control over personal data, potential discrimination and potential manipulation of individuals (as targeting mechanisms seek to influence individuals’ behaviour and choices).

The Guidelines also seek to clarify the roles, responsibilities and relationships between social media providers and targeters and explain the key data protection requirements and documentation that should be in place.Continue Reading EDPB releases draft guidelines on the targeting of social media users

Responding to news reports that journalists were able to purchase advertising on Facebook targeted to ethnic groups, Facebook announced several new changes to the company’s advertising products. The move highlights heightened scrutiny of advertising practices surrounding the increasing use of big data in many aspects of marketing and advertising.

Facebook’s response grew out of a ProPublica report published on October 28, 2015 detailing how journalists were able to purchase ads targeted to house hunters on Facebook,, all while excluding specific “Ethnic Affinities,” such as African-American, Asian-American or Hispanic people.  The report raised significant ethical and legal questions on how the features that enable advertisers to target their ads can be misused for discriminatory purposes.  The potential for interactive computer service providers to violate anti-discrimination laws has drawn attention for several years, especially following the decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the Roommates decision, which held that the that immunity provided by the Communications Decency Act (CDA) for online operators did not apply to an online service that offered questionnaires and selections to online participants that could facilitate discrimination against protected classes. See Fair Hous. Council v. Roommates.com, LLC, 521 F.3d 1157, 1166 (9th Cir.2008) (en banc).
Continue Reading Facebook Implements Additional Measures to Prevent Discriminatory Practices in Targeted Advertisements