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Facebook to stop targeting ads at UK woman after legal fight

Tanya O'Carroll says her case opens a "gateway" for others wanting to stop personalised adverts.

Tanya O'Carroll, 37, who lives in London and works in the tech policy and human rights sector, said it would open a "gateway" for other people wanting to stop the social media company from serving them adverts based on their demographics and interests. Ms O'Carroll, who created her Facebook account about 20 years ago, filed a lawsuit against Meta in 2022, asking it to stop using her personal data to fill her social media feeds with targeted adverts based on topics it thought she was interested in. Ms O'Carroll said that Meta had agreed to stop using her personal data for direct marketing purposes, "which in non-legalese means I've essentially been able to turn off all the creepy, invasive, targeted ads on Facebook".

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