Pinterest Accused of Breaching GDPR Consent Requirements for Ads
Pinterest, a popular visual discovery platform, is facing scrutiny from the European privacy rights organization noyb for allegedly violating the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The complaint, filed with France’s data protection authority, claims that Pinterest did not obtain proper consent from users to track and profile them for advertising purposes. This raises significant concerns, as GDPR violations can result in fines of up to 4% of a company’s global annual revenue.
The complaint highlights that Pinterest has been tracking its 130 million users in Europe by default to personalize advertisements. Users must actively opt out if they do not wish to be tracked, rather than being explicitly asked for consent. This practice has drawn criticism, especially in light of a recent ruling by the European Court of Justice, which stated that personalized advertising cannot be based on the legal basis of legitimate interest without user consent.
In addition to the tracking issue, noyb’s complaint also addresses Pinterest’s failure to respond adequately to a data access request. An unnamed user discovered that her data was being processed without her consent when she checked her privacy settings. Despite multiple requests for information regarding the categories of data shared with third parties, Pinterest allegedly did not provide the necessary details, violating the user’s rights under GDPR.
The complaint calls for Pinterest to delete any data processed for advertising purposes and to fulfill the data access request. noyb seeks a penalty that would deter future violations of GDPR. While Pinterest has rejected the accusations, claiming compliance with GDPR, the outcome of this complaint could have significant implications for the platform and its advertising practices in Europe.
