Facebook ordered to stop tracking Belgian internet users

Nieuws Breedband België 9 NOV 2015
Facebook ordered to stop tracking Belgian internet users
A court in Brussels has given Facebook 48 hours to stop tracking and registering personal details of internet users in Belgium. The company faces a fine of EUR 250,000 a day if it does not comply with the order, Belga news agency reported. The court of first instance in Brussels issued the ruling in a case brought by the Belgian Privacy Commission, which has been investigating Facebook's handling of personal data since early this year.

The Belgian regulator's investigation found that the social network was tracking without their consent internet users who are not members of Facebook, using cookies and plug-ins for the social network placed on third-party websites. These non-members have not given explicit consent for Facebook to track their browsing, putting the social network in violation of Belgian and EU laws on the use of cookies and personal data protection. 

While the Belgian regulator earlier attempted to negotiate changes to Facebook's practices with the company, Facebook rejected the Belgian authority over its activities, as its European operations are based in Ireland. Facebook is already the subject of a separate lawsuit in Ireland over whether it should be allowed to transfer personal data collected in Europe to its US operations. 

Categories:

Internet

Companies:

Facebook

Countries:

België

Tags:

Regulations, Advertising services, Legislation - Lawsuits

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