Meta Faces Spanish Probe For Alleged ‘Silent Spying’ Of Users For Nearly A Year

• Meta allegedly used a hidden mechanism in its Android apps to track users' web activity.
• The “silent spying” involved collecting data on the pages they visited in their web browsers and linking it to their identities in the Facebook and Instagram apps.
• Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s office said in a statement that Meta’s alleged practice may be in violation of multiple European regulations.

Meta Platforms Inc. (META) is under investigation in Spain for alleged violations of users' privacy in its social media applications.

According to a statement issued by the office of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Meta will be required to answer before the Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation Committee of the Spanish Congress. Meta is alleged to have undertaken “silent spying” of its users for nearly a year.

Meta shares were up by 0.5% in Wednesday’s pre-market trade. Retail sentiment on Stocktwits around the company trended in the ‘neutral’ territory at the time of writing.

What Is The Investigation About?

Detailing the allegations, PM Sanchez’s office stated that research conducted by Spain’s IMDEA Networks, Belgium’s Catholic University of Leuven, and the Netherlands’ Radboud University found that Meta allegedly used a hidden mechanism in its Android apps to track users' web activity.

“This ‘silent spying’ involved collecting data on the pages they visited in their web browser and linking them to their identity in Facebook and Instagram apps, even when using incognito mode or a VPN,” said PM Sanchez’s office in an announcement.

It notes that this alleged practice may be in violation of multiple European regulations, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Digital Markets Act (DMA), and the Digital Services Act (DSA).

“In Spain, the law stands above any algorithm or big tech company. And whoever violates our rights will face the consequences,” PM Sanchez said.

Meta’s Privacy Violations

Meta has previously been fined for privacy violations. In 2023, the Irish Data Protection Authority (IE DPA) issued a €1.2 billion ($1.39 billion) fine for violating the European Union’s data privacy rules and mishandling data when transferring it between Europe and the U.S.

Again, in the same year, Ireland’s Data Protection Commission fined Meta another €251 million for a 2018 Facebook security breach that impacted 29 million users. The breach exposed the full names of users, along with their contact details, locations, and places of work, among other information.

1 Euro = 1.16 USD

META stock is up 2% year-to-date and 8% over the past 12 months.

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