Facebook told to comply with Belgian ruling in all of EU

News Broadband Belgium 7 DEC 2015
Facebook told to comply with Belgian ruling in all of EU
EU privacy regulators have asked Facebook to comply throughout the European Union with a Belgian court ruling on privacy protection. In November, a Belgian judge told Facebook to stop tracking non-users of the social network online or face a fine of EUR 250,000 per day. This followed a complaint from the Belgian Privacy Commission that Facebook had not obtained the required prior approval of internet users who are not members of the social network to track their browsing behaviour via cookies and social plug-ins. The court rejected Facebook's claim that it is not subject to Belgian privacy law and said the collection of data on non-users by Facebook was a "manifest" violation of privacy law. 

The Belgian Privacy Commission said in a statement that it will request the judgement be enforced in Belgium, Ireland where Facebook's European headquarters are based and in the company's home country, the US. From 14 December the Commission will assess whether Facebook is complying with the court ruling. The Belgian regulator's action against Facebook is part of a coordinated effort started in 2014 by several EU regulators, including the Netherlands, France, Spain and Hamburg. The group has also published a joint statement on the court ruling, calling for Facebook to implement the changes to its tracking of non-users not only in Belgium but throughout the European Union. 

Shortly after the court ruling, Facebook shut down access for non-Facebook users in Belgium to public pages on the social network, saying this was needed to ensure security on its site and comply with the judgement. Anyone visiting Facebook from Belgium must now register and sign in before accessing the site. Following the Belgian Privacy Commission's latest statement, Facebook said it plans to appeal the court ruling, Belga news agency reported. 

Categories:

Internet

Companies:

Facebook

Regions:

Europe

Countries:

Belgium

Tags:

Security, Portals / social media, Legislation - Lawsuits

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