Facebook announced changes to its cookies policy in Europe to give internet users more control over how the social network collects their personal data. The company said this is part of ongoing efforts to improve compliance with key legislation in the EU, such as the General Data Protection Regulation and the ePrivacy Directive, which covers the use of cookies.
In future, internet users will see a more detailed prompt menu when they visit a Facebook website, with a greater choice of options on which cookies to allow. The company said people would also have control over whether Facebook can use cookies to collect and use data received about them from third-party websites and other apps using its business tools. In addition, Facebook and Instagram users will have a new settings menu on their account where they can update their cookie settings at any time.
Court ruling
The announcement follows a long-running case started in 2015 by the Belgian data protection authority against Facebook. A Belgian court ruled in 2018 that Facebook did not obtain the prior consent necessary under EU law to use tracking cookies, on its own sites nor on third-party websites using its tools. As a result, millions of people who did not even use Facebook could still have their personal data collected and processed by the company, via other websites employing Facebook cookies.
Facebook appealed the case to the EU level, claiming the Belgian regulator did not have authority over the company's European operations, which are based in Ireland. The EU court disagreed in a ruling this June, saying Facebook could face privacy cases in other EU countries as well.
