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Dixon’s dilemma: Irish data watchdog faces big call over Meta’s subscription plan

The Data Protection Commission is in the spotlight as Meta proposes new subscription ‘options’ to comply with data consent aspects of GDPR

Anne O’Leary, head of Meta Ireland, and Helen Dixon, Data Protection Commissioner

Eyebrows were raised around the world last week when it emerged that Meta was planning to start charging Europeans a monthly fee to use Instagram and Facebook without having their personal data used for targeted advertising.

The move, after all, represents a dramatic shift in policy for Meta – a company that has for years taken pride in the fact that it provides its services to billions of users for free.

At Ireland’s Data Protection ...