Users must give Facebook explicit permission to collect data
n Germany, Facebook is not allowed to continue to collect data from users who have not consented. The court stopped this yesterday – as the highest body in German case law.
The tug-of-war around Facebook dates back to a decision by the German cartel watchdog, the Bundeskartellamt. He ruled in February 2019 after a nearly three-year investigation that Facebook is abusing its dominant position.
According to the Bundeskartellamt, the company does this by collecting unsolicited data from Facebook users, for example via like buttons on other websites. It is not a good idea that Facebook links data from Instagram and WhatsApp to Facebook accounts.
The Bundeskartellamt has instructed Facebook to explicitly ask users for permission to link Instagram and WhatsApp data to Facebook profiles. If users disagree, the company may only use the collected data for the service on which it was collected.
The company must also ask for permission to associate information it collects on other websites with Facebook accounts. In addition to ‘like’ buttons, this also happens with Facebook login buttons and an invisible piece of code.