BeReal, the most popular social media platform, is still far from its heyday in 2022, but that hasn’t stopped one organization from fighting back. The Austrian human rights group Noyb has filed a complaint against the platform’s practice of using data consent banners. The organization claims that the banner disappears if users agree that their personal data can be used for advertising purposes, but if they click the “reject” button, the banner appears every day. Noyb filed her complaint with the French data protection authority (CNIL) because the French company Voodoo bought BeReal in June and the practice in question began in July.
“BeReal’s daily attempts to pressure its users into agreeing to be tracked for personalized advertising have a significant impact on user behavior. Consent given in such circumstances is not freely given and therefore does not meet the requirements set out in Article 4(11) of the GDPR,” Noyb argues in its complaint. She asked the CNIL to fine BeReal and force it to comply.
Neub also pointed to the guidelines that the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) adopted in early 2023 regarding such techniques. “The pattern of deceptive design with continuous prompts arises when users are encouraged to provide more personal data than is necessary for the purposes of processing or to consent to another use of their data by repeatedly asking them to provide additional data or to consent to the purpose of processing,” the EDPB notes. “Such repeated requests may come through one or more devices. Users are likely to eventually give in because they are tired of having to decline the request every time they use the platform.” “
