Pinterest accused of secretly tracking their users

Pinterest, a popular platform for creating visual mood boards, profits off users' private data without consent, digital rights watchdog claims.

Noyb, a nonprofit organization that protects European users’ digital rights, has filed a complaint against the social media platform Pinterest.

The complaint states that Pinterest is invading the privacy of its 136 million European users while making money off their personal data through personalized advertising without permission.

“Pinterest is secretly tracking European users without asking for their consent. This allows the social media platform to unlawfully profit from people’s personal data without them ever finding out,” commented Kleanthi Sardeli, data protection lawyer at noyb.

By default, Pinterest has the “ads personalization” feature turned on for its users, meaning that the platform can use your activity data to tailor ads.

Pinterest legally bases its tracking on “legitimate interest.” This means that under Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the company can process personal data without explicit consent from the user if it’s needed for the legitimate interests of the organization or a third party.

However, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has previously ruled that personalized advertising cannot be based on “legitimate interest” as failing to provide an opt-in option violates the GDPR.

“It appears that Pinterest is actively ignoring the European Court of Justice (CJEU) ruling in order to maximize its profits. The CJEU made it clear that personalized advertising cannot be based on legitimate interest,” Sardeli adds.

According to the complaint, even after repeated requests, Pinterest failed to provide details about the categories of data shared with third parties.

Noyb filed the complaint with the French Data Protection Authority (CNIL), requesting that Pinterest erase data processed for personalized ads and comply with the complainant’s access request.

The non-profit also suggests imposing an administrative fine to prevent similar violations in the future.