In 2023, noyb continued to be one of the major European forces pushing for the fundamental right to data protection for all users. Our achievements this year prove once again that we can make an impact: In addition to filing more than 40 new complaints, 2023 was a year of major decisions in noyb cases that resulted in significant fines against several companies.
Our cases in 2023. Among the most significant cases of 2023 are noyb’s first two complaints against Meta’s “Pay or Okay” system. In November 2023, the company began charging users a monthly fee if they refused to consent to tracking for personalised advertising. noyb’s first complaint targets the consent mechanism itself, while the second one focuses on the lack of an easy way to withdraw consent.
But not only that: We’ve also stepped up our action against unlawful credit scoring, filed complaints against Twitter (now X) and the EU Commission for the use of political microtargeting X, filed complaints against Fitbit for forced consent, another against Ryanair’s use of invasive facial recognition, and one against TeleSign for secretly profiling millions of mobile phone users.
Major fines against companies that violated EU law. Most importantly, data protection authorities across Europe issues decisions in noyb cases that resulted in significant fines. The year began with the Irish DPC ordering Meta to pay a whopping € 390 million in early January. At the end of May 2023, Meta was fined € 1.2 billion and was ordered to stop transferring Europeans’ personal data to the United States.
Then, in June, the Swedish Data Protection Authority (IMY) fined Spotify 58 million Swedish Crown (about € 5 million) because it failed to fully comply with a user’s request for access. In the same month, the French data protection authority (CNIL) fined CRITEO, a major online advertising and tracking company in Europe, €40 million for violating data subject rights and failing to prove that it had obtained valid consent. In July, the Swedish data protection authority (IMY) issued the first major fine for the use of Google Analytics. All these fines were the result of complaints that noyb (sometimes in cooperation with others) lodged on behalf of data subjects.
Thank you! None of our work would have been possible without our more than 5,200 supporting members, institutional members and every individual person who donates to noyb. We deeply appreciate this support, especially in these difficult economic times. Your generosity and dedication enables us to continue our work and make a meaningful impact on digital rights.
Read all about our new and ongoing projects, financials and plans for 2024 in noyb’s Annual Report 2023!
