Google and Facebook accused of breaking GDPR laws
I think Facebook&#x27;s lawyers have determined that they can use the &#x27;legitimate interest&#x27; basis for showing targeted ads to their users [0].  This basis does <i>not</i> require consent from users except as part of the take-it-or-leave-it initial terms of service.<p>Here are the parts of the &#x27;legitimate interest&#x27; basis which are most useful to Facebook:<p><i>The GDPR does not define what factors to take into account when deciding if your purpose is a legitimate interest. It could be as simple as it being legitimate to start up a new business activity, or to grow your business.</i><p>So Facebook&#x27;s lawyers can simply say, &quot;It&#x27;s in our legitimate interest to maximise advertising revenue&quot;.<p><i>You need to demonstrate that the processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests you have identified. This doesn’t mean that it has to be absolutely essential, but it must be a targeted and proportionate way of achieving your purpose.</i><p>Facebook&#x27;s lawyers can say, &quot;It is necessary for us to use personal information about our users, such as their age and location, in order to maximise our advertising revenue&quot;.<p><i>The GDPR is clear that the interests of the individual could in particular override your legitimate interests if you intend to process personal data in ways the individual does not reasonably expect.</i><p>Facebook&#x27;s lawyers can say, &quot;People expect that we use their personal information such as age and location to determine what ads to show them, so the interest of the user does not override our legitimate interest of maximising advertising revenue.&quot;<p>[0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;ico.org.uk&#x2F;for-organisations&#x2F;guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr&#x2F;legitimate-interests&#x2F;what-is-the-legitimate-interests-basis&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;ico.org.uk&#x2F;for-organisations&#x2F;guide-to-the-general-da...</a>