- Facebook and Instagram will soon offer an ad-free option to UK users
- It will cost £2.99 per month, or £3.99 if subscribing on Android or iOS
- This will be the only way to fully avoid targeted ads
A big change is coming to Facebook and Instagram in the UK, as in the coming weeks, users will be given the option to pay a monthly subscription in order to avoid adverts.
The subscription is priced at £2.99 (roughly $4 / AU$6) per month on the web, or £3.99 (around $5.50 / AU$8) if you subscribe via iOS or Android (due to those platforms taking a cut of the fee), and if you choose to pay then you’ll get an ad-free experience on both platforms.
It’s worth noting that if you have multiple accounts, then the subscription will be applied to every account that you’ve added to Meta Accounts Center, but you’ll automatically be charged a reduced price of £2 (roughly $2.70 / AU$4) per month on the web or £3 (around $4 / AU$6) via iOS or Android for each additional account.
Putting a price on privacy
As subscriptions go this isn’t too pricey, but given that it’s the only way to interact with these platforms without receiving targeted ads it doesn’t feel ideal.
Essentially, it means you have to pay for Meta to respect your privacy, since while there are some ad toggles on their services to customize what data advertisers have access to, you can’t completely remove the targeted nature of adverts.
That’s why this change is happening, as the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which is the UK’s data watchdog, has concluded that UK users should be able to opt out of targeted ads.
Speaking to The Guardian, a spokesperson for the ICO said “this moves Meta away from targeting users with ads as part of the standard terms and conditions for using its Facebook and Instagram services, which we’ve been clear is not in line with UK law.”
Personally, this subscription doesn’t appeal to me – partially because I don’t use these services much anyway, but also because I don’t like the idea of having to pay to maintain my privacy. Still, it’s arguably better than not even having the choice, as has been the case until now.
One option that isn’t available is a free, middle ground of non-personalized ads. This is why Meta hasn’t launched a similar offering in the EU, as regulators said the simple “binary choice” violates the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
Though it’s worth noting that even with the subscription, Meta will of course still collect your data to personalize its services, it just won’t use it to serve you ads. So if you don’t trust Meta with your data at all then there’s a simpler, cheaper solution – don’t use its apps at all.
