Civil society organizations hit X with complaint over user data and targeted ads
Nine civil society organizations have lodged a formal complaint with the European regulatory authorities against X for its use of users’ data for targeted advertising that may potentially be a violation of the Digital Services Act (DSA).
The signatories of the complaint are AI Forensics, the Centre for Democracy and Technology Europe, Entropy, European Digital Rights, Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte e.V. (GFF), Global Witness, Panoptykon Foundation, Stichting Bits of Freedom, and VoxPublic.
They have called on the Digital Services Coordinators and the European Commission “to protect individuals and communities from discriminatory or exploitative profiling” that undermines their rights by investigating X’s potential breach of Article 26(3) of the DSA.
This article prohibits advertising based on sensitive user data, such as race, religion, sexuality, or political affiliation.
The civil society organizations claim they checked X’s Ad Repository and found that major brands, as well as public and financial institutions, are engaged in targeted online advertising based on highly sensitive and personal data, including political opinions, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, and health conditions.
“We express our deep concern regarding the use by X of users’ sensitive personal data for targeted advertisements,” the organizations say in a joint statement.
“Targeted advertising based on profiling using special categories of data opens the door for a myriad of abuses at scale, including interest groups trying to influence public opinion in ways that can threaten online civic discourse and undermine the democratic process. Regardless of intent, this type of targeting is, we believe, incompatible with the DSA,” they continue.
The signatories conclude their joint statement by stating that all online platforms must be held to the highest standards of compliance. They promise to continue monitoring developments closely and support regulatory oversight in enforcing the Digital Services Act.