General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation controls how personal information is used by organisations.

Ms O'Carroll's lawsuit argued that Facebook's targeted advertising system was covered by the UK's definition of direct marketing, giving individuals the right to object.

Meta said that adverts on its platform could only be targeted to groups of a minimum size of 100 people, rather than individuals, so did not count as direct marketing. But the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) disagreed.

"Organisations must respect people's choices about how their data is used," a spokesperson for the ICO said. "This means giving users a clear way to opt out of their data being used in this way."

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".

She said that she did not want to stop using Facebook, saying that it is "filled with all of those connections and family and friends, and entire chapters of my life".