Consent or Pay: How can the single market and fundamental rights work together?

‘Consent or Pay’ has dominated headlines in the past few months as the world has eagerly anticipated the EDPB’s opinion on ‘Consent or Pay’ models implemented by Large Online Platforms. It was often said that a generalised acceptance of this , should the model have been accepted, would have changed the internet as we know it would have changed. Civil societies have highlighted that if ‘Consent or Pay’ would be permitted, it would not be limited to news pages or social networks but would be employed by any industry sector with an ability to monetise personal data via consent.

While the EDPB opinion has now been released, it is important to deepen this discussion for at least three reasons. First, the EDPB will work on guidelines may be published by the EDPB on the wider working of the model, thus further defining rules in the sector . Second, the issue is of cross-regulatory nature, as the European Commission will be investigating on such models’ compliance with the DMA . The European Commission will also be considering the models’ compliance with the DSA following a request for more information on the Subscription for no Ads options. Third, court cases will very likely arise as supervisory authorities respond to complaints addressing the model.

The option to either pay or either consent was faced by almost every European individual using Instagram/Facebook . Participants were able to understand how data protection is relevant to their everyday interactions with technology, as most European individuals have been faced with the option to either pay or consent. Thus, it is a good starting point to both show the vital role of the EDPS and EDPB and to spark a discussion about a critical topic.

This event took place on 11 July 2024 at the EDPS Premises in the Giovanni Buttarelli room from 16:00 to 18:00.

Web-streaming:

Watch this video to replay the conference. Webstreaming provided by the European Parliament.

Programme: 

Opening remarks, Matthijs Timmermans, EDPS Trainee in I&C Unit

Keynote presentation by Wojciech Wiewiórowski, European Data Protection Supervisor 

Panel discussion moderated by the EDPS/EDPB Trainees with:

Michael König, Head of Unit European Commission DG Competition – Directorate J – Digital Platforms

Carolina Foglia, EDPB Secretariat – Head of Sector | Legal Affairs - Cooperation and Enforcement

Cristiana Santos, Assistant Professor in Law and Technology

Tiago Sérgio Cabral, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP / JusGov Research Centre. 

Chiara Manfredini, EU Policy Assistant, Access Now

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