Meta does not sell your name or email address directly to advertisers, but it does use detailed information about your behaviour, interests, and demographics to target you with ads on behalf of paying advertisers. This targeted advertising is a core part of the deal you accept when you use Facebook for free.
Meta uses your browsing behaviour, interests, location, and demographic data to serve targeted advertisements, and this data use is framed as a contractual obligation — meaning opting out of advertising-based data use may require account deletion rather than a simple opt-out toggle.
Cross-platform context
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Compare across platforms →Although Meta distinguishes its model from 'selling' personal data, the practical effect of highly targeted behavioural advertising based on extensive profiling creates significant privacy implications, and the statement that data use for advertising is 'part of our agreement with you' is a key mechanism Meta uses to establish contractual lawful basis for processing under GDPR.
REGULATORY FRAMEWORK: This provision directly engages GDPR Art. 6(1)(b) (contract performance as lawful basis for advertising data processing), which the Irish DPC and CJEU have scrutinised in the context of behavioural advertising — the CJEU ruled in Case C-252/21 (Meta v. Bundeskartellamt) that legitimate interest cannot override data subjects' rights for large-scale profiling. CCPA §1798.120 gives California residents the right to opt out of sale or sharing of personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising. FTC Act Section 5 applies to deceptive framing of data practices. EU DSA Art. 26 requires transparency in advertising targeting parameters. (2)
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