A change is coming for UK-based users of Meta’s apps, with the company now in the process of moving them onto US user agreements, as opposed to listing them under its Irish subsidiary.
The change was triggered by Brexit, with UK users technically now under alternate jurisdiction to their European counterparts. And while it won’t have a major impact on usage or data sharing, it will change the way that UK users are managed, which will see some changes in process.
Though not everything is changing. UK users will retain their data rights under UK General Data Protection Regulation, though they’ll no longer be covered by the EU’s General Data Protection program anymore.
That could have broader impacts moving forward, as the EU continues to refine its data policies, and push forward with its more stringent and detailed data usage rulings.
Last month, Meta was fined more than $400 million for violating EU privacy laws in regards to personalized ads, and its failure to obtain explicit user permission to use their information for ad targeting. Meta’s appealing the fine, but it has also updated its process to ensure that EU users specifically accept its latest terms and conditions, as a means to address this element.
It’s unclear exactly how switching UK users to US agreements will relate to similar changes moving forward, but again, UK citizens are now technically not part of the EU, which puts them into a separate category.
Meta says that UK-based Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp users will see an in-app notification in the coming weeks to let them know of the switch.