Meta is now offering UK users the opportunity to buy back a piece of their digital privacy for up to £3.99 a month. The company’s new subscription service for Facebook and Instagram allows users to pay to stop seeing personalised ads, effectively commercialising the right to be free from its vast data-crunching apparatus.
The offering, set to launch in the coming weeks, gives users a path to an ad-free experience. A monthly payment of £2.99 on the web or £3.99 on mobile will cleanse a user’s linked accounts of all sponsored content. This move frames privacy not as a default right, but as a premium service available for purchase.
This transactional approach to privacy has received the backing of the UK’s data watchdog, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO has stated that this model is compliant with UK law because it gives users an explicit choice to opt out of ad-targeting, which was not previously possible. This endorsement follows a legal settlement with a campaigner who fought for this right.
This idea of selling privacy back to the user has been vehemently opposed in the European Union. Regulators there fined Meta €200m over the scheme, arguing it illegally monetises a fundamental right. The EU’s position is that a company that takes away privacy cannot then charge a fee to restore it.
Ultimately, UK users are being asked to put a price on their own data. The question of whether £3.99 a month is a fair price to escape Meta’s ad algorithm is now a practical consideration for millions, transforming a complex debate about digital rights into a simple monthly transaction.
Can You Buy Back Your Privacy from Facebook for £3.99?
