Meta has officially attached a price tag to digital privacy in the United Kingdom. The company announced that users of Facebook and Instagram can now purchase an ad-free experience, and by extension, an escape from its ad-targeting machinery, for a set monthly fee.
The price for this newly commercialised privacy is £3.99 per month for mobile users and £2.99 per month for web users. By paying this fee, individuals can ensure their online behaviour is not used to serve them targeted ads across their linked accounts. For the first time, privacy on these platforms is not a setting, but a product.
This pricing strategy has been approved by the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The data regulator, which had pressured Meta to offer an opt-out, views this paid subscription as a legally sound way to provide that choice. This marks a major moment in UK regulation, where a market-based solution to a data rights issue has been formally endorsed.
This commodification of privacy is where the UK and the EU part ways. The European Commission has fined Meta €200m for the very same model, arguing that privacy is a fundamental right that cannot be sold. The EU’s Digital Markets Act is designed to prevent such “pay-for-your-rights” schemes.
With this move, the abstract debate over data privacy becomes a concrete consumer decision for millions in the UK. The price tag is on the table, and users must now decide if the cost of the subscription is a price worth paying for peace of mind.