The German Federal Cartel Office has started a proceeding against Facebook USA, the Irish subsidiary of the company and Facebook Germany. The Cartel Office believes Facebook may have abused its dominant position in the market for social networks with its specific terms of service on the use of user data. The office will conduct the proceeding in close contact with the competent data protection officers, consumer protection associations as well as the European Commission and the competition authorities of the other EU states.
The Cartel Office said there is an initial suspicion that Facebook's conditions of use are in violation of data protection provisions. The office will examine, among other issues, to what extent a connection exists between the possibly dominant position of the company and the use of such clauses.
The office explained that Facebook collects a large amount of personal user data from various sources. By creating user profiles the company enables its advertising customers to better target their advertising activities. In order to access the social network, users must first agree to the company's collection and use of their data by accepting the terms of service. It is difficult for users to understand and assess the scope of the agreement accepted by them. There is considerable doubt as to the admissibility of this procedure, in particular under applicable national data protection law, the Cartel Office said. If there is a connection between such an infringement and market dominance, this could also constitute an abusive practice under competition law.
