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Facebook Sued Over App Center Data Sharing In Germany

Posted by Soulskill on from the privacy-advocates-like-this dept.

An anonymous reader sends this quote from an IDG News report: "German consumer organizations are suing Facebook because the social network keeps sharing personal data with third-party app makers without getting explicit consent from users. Third party apps often want access to a users' chat as well as information about friends, personal contact information and the ability to post on a user's Facebook wall. But instead of asking users for permission, the apps available through Facebook's App Center just grant themselves access to the data, the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (VZBV), said on Thursday. ... In the past, Facebook asked for user consent by showing a pop-up window that warned data was shared with third-parties, and a user had the choice to click on allow or not allow. But when the App Center was introduced that changed, said Michaela Zinke, policy officer at the VZBV. 'I'm very confused why Facebook changed it,' she said, adding that before Facebook complied with German law and now doesn't anymore."

2 of 55 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Is it just me or has Europe become the privacy by Lained · · Score: 5, Informative
    No, we're not megalomaniac like the U.S. and we do know where our jurisdiction ends (basically at our borders).

    With that said, we do it for our own rights, inside our borders and under our legal jurisdiction.

    Sorry to disappoint you.

    Note: And saying "don't use it if you don't agree with their policy" doesn't cut it. If it's infringing in privacy rights, it'll still be infringing even if I don't use the service, as long as the service is available for us with that policy.

  2. Very simple explanation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In the past, Facebook asked for user consent by showing a pop-up window that warned data was shared with third-parties, and a user had the choice to click on allow or not allow. But when the App Center was introduced that changed, said Michaela Zinke, policy officer at the VZBV. 'I'm very confused why Facebook changed it,' she said, adding that before Facebook complied with German law and now doesn't anymore."

    They doubtless changed it because too many people were clicking on "NO".