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European Privacy Regulators Take Coordinated Action Against Facebook

Posted by BeauHD on from the coordinated-action dept.

An anonymous reader writes: European privacy regulators from as number of countries has made a coordinated action against Facebook for violating data protection laws. The French CNIL has sanctioned Facebook with a 150,000 EUR fine, and the regulator from Netherlands is considering a similar action. Regulators are concerned with new privacy policies of Facebook, lack of transparency, cookie handling and tracking Facebook users on third-party sites -- all without user knowledge or control. Such coordinated move is unprecedented in the history of European data protection regulators.

27 of 53 comments (clear)

  1. 150,000 EUR? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What percent of Facebook's revenue is that? 0.00001%?

    These regulators better grow some teeth if they want to be taken seriously.

    1. Re:150,000 EUR? by Opportunist · · Score: 2

      Currently they're still slapping wrists. It started in that ballpark with Microsoft, too.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:150,000 EUR? by Schmorgluck · · Score: 3, Informative

      They're not "pushing policy around the globe", they're regulating the activities of a company in Europe.

      --
      There's nothing like $HOME
  2. Shouldn't they go after Google first? by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

    Regulators are concerned with new privacy policies of Facebook, lack of transparency, cookie handling and tracking Facebook users on third-party sites -- all without user knowledge or control.

    Yeah, I'm concerned with all of those things pertaining to Facebook, too. But I'm way more concerned about Google doing precisely the same things, since they do so much more of them.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    1. Re:Shouldn't they go after Google first? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Yep, and Google is much more deeply embedded into the fabric of the modern web. Almost every major page loads things from a bunch of Google domains, or uses their captcha system, etc. I block everything Facebook related and have noticed no adverse effects on the web, but if you block Google, a ton of things simply will not function.

    2. Re:Shouldn't they go after Google first? by thsths · · Score: 1

      Indeed. And what about the tracking of not-users, both by Facebook and by Google? That would seem distinctly worse to me.

  3. Facebook Should Say Goodby To EU by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 2

    To me, this is a lot like publishers that demand Google pay to index them, and when Google says, OK, it's opt in, you see publishers fall on their swards when their traffic dies. If Facebook pulled out og the EU for even a week, public outcry would be enormouse. Seriously, anyone who doesn't understand what's going on with Facebook and FREE consumer accounts is a moron.

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    1. Re:Facebook Should Say Goodby To EU by moronoxyd · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Seriously, anyone who doesn't understand what's going on with Facebook and FREE consumer accounts is a moron.

      This case is about Facebook tracking people who don't have a FB account. Since these people don't have a FB account they did not agree to anything. And Facebook had been told a year ago to stop this and they didn't.
      Do these facts (that you would have known about if you read articles about this before you commented here) affect you statement in any way? Or are you one of those people that complain about anything just for the kicks?

    2. Re:Facebook Should Say Goodby To EU by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      If Facebook pulled out og the EU for even a week, public outcry would be enormouse.

      Doubtful. Anyway, law is law, the public can change it indirectly via elections but luckily not directly. The fines could get substantially higher if Facebook doesn't comply.

      Seriously, anyone who doesn't understand what's going on with Facebook and FREE consumer accounts is a moron.

      The law prescribes that the storage of personal data must fulfill certain standards, it is completely irrelevant whether the accounts are free or not. It's not different from anything else related to consumer protection, e.g. if a vacuum cleaner is given away for free that doesn't mean it's okay if it electrocutes you.

    3. Re:Facebook Should Say Goodby To EU by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      If Facebook pulled out of the EU for a week, we'd have a paradise on Earth.

      People would talk to each other. Folks would have something to do besides click Likes. Cancer would suddenly be cured.

      God bless you.

    4. Re:Facebook Should Say Goodby To EU by sit1963nz · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Seriously, the USA does not run the world.

      94% of the worlds population lives outside the USA
      80% of the worlds GDP is outside the USA.

      The USA has far more to loose than the rest of the world. Most of the big players earn MORE outside the USA than they do inside, if they were forced to choose they would choose the world over the USA. The US is a saturated market with little growth potential, the growth potential in the rest of the world is HUGE.

      Start pissing off the world and over 2/3 of the US economy could disappear (bring the US down to 6% of the worlds GDP in line with its population)

    5. Re:Facebook Should Say Goodby To EU by Opportunist · · Score: 1, Funny

      Do you really want that? Why do you want to increase productivity in Europe, are you some kind of commie?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    6. Re:Facebook Should Say Goodby To EU by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Funny

      For about a week until Gesichterbuch and livre de visages get launched.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    7. Re:Facebook Should Say Goodby To EU by Knightman · · Score: 3, Funny

      I'm afraid that we would then have food riots in 10 months time due to the incredible population growth...

      --
      --- Reality doesn't care about your opinions, it happens anyway and if you are in the way you'll get squished.
    8. Re:Facebook Should Say Goodby To EU by sit1963nz · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Its not about USING Facebook, its that even when you are NOT a Facebook user, Facebook tracks you and builds a profile anyway.

    9. Re:Facebook Should Say Goodby To EU by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      You see this USA USA USA We're Number #1! shit everywhere whenever another country shows backbone to US corporate interests. I'm sure there are some people who are really that deluded, but I'm also sure that some of it is just pro-plutocracy shilling.

      The European Union has a population 50% larger than the USA, an arguably larger economy (it depends on how you measure GDP, but we're happy with number 2 if that's how you want to count it) and far more potential for growth. China has four times the number of people, and is going to sail past both the EU and the US in terms of GDP in the next 5-10 years.

      The USA was once the leader of the free world; now it's an international laughing stock throwing the full might of its bloated military industrial complex against every threat, real or imagined, whilst live-tweeting its own failures. Meanwhile its citizens cling to the American Dream whilst their ruling class squeezes every last dollar out of them and into their offshore accounts whilst blasting them with propaganda and vapid entertainments and convincing them that paradise is just a scratchcard away, and that their plight is because of the evil Reds/Yellows/Greens/Blacks/Irish/Italians/Jews/Muslims/Vegans/Liberal Elite/Wall Street/Whatever-it-is-this-week that they are told to be frightened of.

      The USA has lots of excellent people: first class minds, talented creators, hard-working, kind and generous souls. It has awesome natural beauty, plentiful natural resources and opportunity for real and sustainable growth. But you guys are throwing all that into the meat-grinder of maximised quarterly profits, and for what? So you can watch your kid grow up poorer than you were whilst some jackass fund manager spends their retirement savings on a bigger megayacht to keep anchored off his tax haven of choice?

    10. Re:Facebook Should Say Goodby To EU by lokedhs · · Score: 4, Interesting
      A lot of people share their address books with google. That allows them to integrate everyone in those address books into the social graphs regardless of whether they have an account or not.

      If I don't have an FB account, but two of my friends do, and I'm in their address books then they know who I am, and that I know these people. Since they also have my phone number they have a good idea where I live as well. FB now also knows that these two people are close, given the fact that they have a common friend.

      Then keep in mind that FB has a lot of photos, and I wouldn't be surprised if they can use that information to associate a picture with people who don't have accounts. Does FB allow you to tag a photo with the name of a person who doesn't have an account?

      It is well known that FB has "shadow" accounts in their system for people who are known but hasn't actually created an account yet. I certainly would like to see them stop that activity.

    11. Re:Facebook Should Say Goodby To EU by Tom · · Score: 1

      If Facebook pulled out of the EU for a week, we'd have a paradise on Earth.

      Not to mention by the end of the week, everyone would be on some competitor site and FB would lose its grip on the social media sphere.

      We might finally have social instead of anti-social media. Where you own your site and content and just have a standard way of linking to others.

      Not, of course, that anyone would allow that to happen, too much advertisement money at stake.

      --
      Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
    12. Re:Facebook Should Say Goodby To EU by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Seriously, the USA does not run the world.

      94% of the worlds population lives outside the USA

      Let's talk about this in terms of per capita. More along the lines of your:

      80% of the worlds GDP is outside the USA./Q

      Let's subtract all USA-originated aid, grants, offshored dollars (into shells), remittances, and "international programs" funding predominantly by the USA, then we can talk about "world" GDP.

      p.s. I may wind-up in the EU as a citizen too by the way--I just don't care to suffer the anti-USA bigotry of mis-educated nitwits. Most freakin' Chinese, who live in a damn info bubble with constant propaganda, appreciate the true position of the US relative EU many have told me something along the lines of "damn, when are you going to stop paying for those stupid farts?"

    13. Re:Facebook Should Say Goodby To EU by fgouget · · Score: 1

      For about a week until Gesichterbuch and livre de visages get launched.

      No. In France we've had Face de Bouc for a long time already.

    14. Re:Facebook Should Say Goodby To EU by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      (insert tasteless joke about Muslims and goat fucking here)

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  4. unprecedented... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    sent to you on a win10 machine using chrome.

  5. Anything to do with Trump, Brexit, etc.? by matbury6017 · · Score: 1

    I wonder if this move has anything to do with what the Guardian did a story on: "The Great British Brexit robbery: how our democracy was hijacked" https://www.theguardian.com/te...

    Apparently, there are some mercenary individuals who run companies who are capable of significantly influencing the outcomes of elections through manipulating social media and using people's personal social media data to target them during election campaigns. Although, thinking about it, isn't that what the "old media" have always done? I guess they object to Donald Trump and Nigel Farage more than previous campaigners... Oh, and the story is run by an "old media" outlet.

  6. Re:ok, so i hate facebook and all... by NoZart · · Score: 1

    Some friend of you is using Facebook. Your contact data is now on Facebook. Someone took pictures at the party you were, too. Posted it on Facebook. Other people might reference you by name in their posts.
    So now FB starts to build a shadow profile by connecting all this meta data.

    How effective this is i found out by signing up to Facebook. I did VERY late (around 2015 or something) and right after i put in my details Facebook showed me all my real life friends to connect to. It was downright scary.

  7. And IP addresses by knorthern+knight · · Score: 1

    IMPORTANT: Block the following both inbound (cookies) and outbound ("Like" buttons") traffic

    31.13.24.0/21
    31.13.64.0/18
    66.220.144.0/20
    69.63.176.0/20
    69.171.224.0/19
    74.119.76.0/22
    103.4.96.0/22
    173.252.64.0/18
    204.15.20.0/22

    --

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  8. Grammar? by Big+Hairy+Ian · · Score: 1

    European privacy regulators from as number of countries has made

    WTF don't you even proofread this shit?

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    Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.

  9. Ouch by easyTree · · Score: 1

    EU asks FB to buy it a coffee.

    --
    Requiem for the American Dream