German competition watchdog: Facebook infringes data collection
The German competition watchdog believes that Facebook is acting unlawfully by collecting data from ‘third sources’ such as WhatsApp and Instagram. By making use of its service dependent on this, Facebook is abusing its dominant position.
The chairman of the German Bundeskartellamt, Andreas Mundt, writes: “We especially see the data collection outside the social network and combining that data with the Facebook account as problematic.” The watchdog describes such ‘third sources’ as Facebook’s own services WhatsApp and Instagram, but also as other sites on which Facebook can collect data. This would happen due to the presence of the ‘like’ button, which can also be used for this purpose without being used. The watchdog believes that users need more control here.
Facebook would also not request permission from its users for the data collection, with which the company violates European privacy rules, according to the regulator. As a large social network with a correspondingly large market share, Facebook must be aware that users cannot simply switch to another service. Users would thus be forced to accept the ‘total package’ including the conditions or not to use the service at all.
Mundt argues that a competition authority says something about privacy, stating: “Privacy, consumer protection and competition come together where data, as with Facebook, is an important factor for the economic dominance of a company. On the one hand, it is social network is free to use, but on the other hand it is an attractive place for advertisers whose value is so high because Facebook has a huge amount of personalized data.” Moreover, Facebook should abide by the rules and should not abuse its dominant market position.
The regulator’s conclusion is a preliminary finding in an ongoing investigation. This means that Facebook can still formulate counterarguments and propose solutions. After that, the supervisor can stop the investigation or impose obligations or a ban. The results are expected at the beginning of the summer of 2018, according to the watchdog. He started his investigation in March of last year. On Monday, the French privacy authority also set a one-month deadline to Facebook to bring its data transfer to WhatsApp in line with the law.
Facebook has responded to Reuters and believes that the German Bundeskartellamt paints an incorrect picture of Facebook. According to the social network, Facebook is popular in Germany, but not dominant.