Germany’s antitrust watchdog has banned Facebook from combining data collected from its social platforms without user consent. The landmark ruling also means that users who refuse permission for their data to be merged will not be shut out of Facebook services as a result. Officials have been looking into Facebook since mid-2016, charging that the Silicon Valley giant uses other networks - like subsidiaries Instagram and Whatsapp, as well as Twitter and other websites - to collect masses of information about users without their knowledge. Andreas Mundt, president of Germany's Federal Cartel Office, the Bundeskartellamt, said: "Facebook will no longer be allowed to force its users to agree to the practically unrestricted collection and assigning of non-Facebook data to their Facebook user accounts." Mr Mundt argues that Facebook was able to build a "unique database" for each individual users and gain market power. "In future, consumers can prevent Facebook from unrestrictedly collecting and using their data," he said. Facebook has over 95pc of market share of daily active users of social media in Germany, and over 80pc of monthly active users, the authority's research found during a two-year probe into its activity. Mr Mundt said: "As a dominant company Facebook is subject to special obligations under competition law.<doc-sep>Facebook can’t mix up WhatsApp and Instagram data with its own unless people consent to it, Germany has said. It has also been told to stop taking data from third-party apps and combining that with its own. Facebook collects information from across the internet – including from third-party sources as well as its own other apps – and attaches it to users’ accounts, in an attempt to build a more accurate picture about them and sell ads. That practice has come under intense criticism from privacy campaigners and users who argue that it amounts to Facebook following them around the internet without their consent or even their knowledge. The company has abused its market dominance to combine user data from a range of different sources, according to the German cartel office, the Bundeskartellamt. Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Show all 15 1 /15 Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Facebook is born On 4 Feb, 2004, 19-year-old Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg launched a website called 'TheFacebook' from his dorm. Within 24 hours the college social network had more than 1,000 users Wikimedia Commons Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Winklevoss twins sue Zuckerberg Within one week of launching, fellow Harvard students Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss and Divya Narendra accused Zuckerberg of stealing their idea. It would be four years later when the resulting lawsuit was finally settled Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Open for business The social network finally opened it platform to everyone on 26 September, 2006. The move proved the catalyst in supercharging the site's already explosive growth PA Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Billion-dollar bid Yahoo offered $1 billion to buy Facebook in September 2006 but Zuckerberg turned it down. 'I don’t know what I could do with the money,' Zuckerberg reportedly said. 'I’d just start another social networking site' Reuters Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network In the money In September 2009, almost five years since the site launched, Facebook turned a profit for the first time Getty Images/iStockphoto Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Taking the lead Facebook overtook MySpace in 2010 to become the world’s most popular social network Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Taking on the tech giants In 2011, Google launched its own social network that it hoped would knock Facebook from its perch. Despite its initial success, Google+ ultimately failed and will be shut down completely in 2019 Getty Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Facebook goes public On 18 May, 2012, Facebook went public. The initial public offering raised $16 billion – the third largest in US history Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Gobbling up the competition Facebook acquired Instagram in April 2012 for $1 billion, consolidating its position as the world's leading social network Reuters Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network One billion users On 4 October, 2012, Zuckerberg announced that Facebook had hit 1 billion users. 'If you’re reading this: thank you for giving me and my little team the honour of serving you,' he wrote in a blog post Getty Images Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Expanding its empire In February 2014 Facebook acquired the messaging app WhatsApp for $19.3 billion REUTERS/Dado Ruvic Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Two billion users In June 2017, Facebook passed the 2 billion user milestone REUTERS/Dado Ruvic Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Privacy scandal On 17 March 2018, news broke that UK firm Cambridge Analytica had harvested data from around 87 million Facebook users for the purpose of political profiling in the build up to the 2016 US presidential elections Shutterstock Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Record profits Despite the scandals and subsequent #DeleteFacebook campaign, Facebook posted record profits just before its 15th anniversary, the equivalent of $7.37 from each of its 2.32 billions users iStock/Independent Facebook birthday: 15 defining moments for the social network Unhappy users A study found that people are happier when they don’t use Facebook, adding to mounting evidence surrounding the impact social media has on mental health Rex Features It said Facebook users have only been able to use the social network on the condition that it can collect user data “outside of the Facebook website in the internet or on smartphone apps and assign these data to the user’s Facebook account”. Bundeskartellamt president Andreas Mundt said Thursday that the ruling means “Facebook will no longer be allowed to force its users to agree to the practically unrestricted collection and assigning of non-Facebook data to their Facebook user accounts”. The ruling will not go into effect immediately and Facebook has one month to appeal, it said. Facebook has said it plans to. Facebook’s data collection practises have repeatedly been criticised in recent months, as it has been accused of abusing the vast amounts of data it collects. Recommended Facebook to finally let people delete sent messages In particular, users have voice concern about plans to combine data from Facebook’s other apps – particularly Instagram and WhatsApp – and use them to sell ads across its range of products. Germany’s justice minister Katarina Barley said that Facebook had reached far beyond its platform to collect user data, and that she welcomed the cartel office’s call for curbs on its ability to mix those various sources of personal information about the people who use it. “Users are often unaware of this flow of data and cannot prevent it if they want to use the services,” Ms Barley told Reuters. “We need to be rigorous in tackling the abuse of power that comes with data.”<doc-sep>
Germany’s national competition regulator has ordered Facebook to stop combining user data from different sources without voluntary consent. The order applies to data collected by Facebook-owned platforms like WhatsApp and Instagram, but also third-party sources that Facebook uses to flesh out its advertising profiles, including those of non-users. The Bundeskartellamt, or Federal Cartel Office (FCO), has given Facebook one month to appeal the landmark decision, which comes after a three-year investigation. If the appeal fails, the tech company will have to ensure these data sources are not combined without consent within the next four months. Although the ruling only applies within Germany, the decision could influence regulators in other countries. In a blog post, Facebook claims that such data privacy controls do not fall under the remit of the FCO, which enforces German antitrust and competition laws. But the FCO says Facebook’s control of multiple social networks combined with its high market share is “indicative of a monopolization process” and means intervention is needed. German regulators say users are essentially forced into Facebook’s ‘comprehensive’ data collection “As a dominant company Facebook is subject to special obligations under competition law,“ said FCO president Andreas Mundt in a press statement. “In the operation of its business model the company must take into account that Facebook users practically cannot switch to other social networks [...] The only choice the user has is either to accept the comprehensive combination of data or to refrain from using the social network. In such a difficult situation the user’s choice cannot be referred to as voluntary consent.” Facebook’s collection of user data outside its own sites is an often overlooked aspect of its business model, and one that the company itself doesn’t like to draw attention to. When Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before Congress last year, he claimed that Facebook users are always able to see the data collected about them and delete it when they like. Critics pointed out that this statement obscured practices like the creation of “shadow profiles” — user profiles of individuals who don’t have a Facebook account. Using tools like “Like” button and Facebook Pixel, which are embedded on third-party sites and feed data back through Facebook’s services, the company can track users’ activity around the web, expanding its knowledge of individuals’ likes and preferences far beyond the information they might volunteer on the social network. When combined with information from WhatsApp and Instagram, the result is extensive and detailed tracking. Regulators within Europe have already expressed concern about this combinatorial approach to user tracking. In 2017, the EU fined Facebook $122 million for submitting “misleading information” about plans for its WhatsApp acquisition. At the time of the acquisition in 2014, the company told regulators it would be unable to link the profiles of WhatsApp and Facebook users. Then, in 2016, it did exactly that. Despite such regulatory action, Facebook is ramping up efforts to tie users from its different platforms closer together. Last month, it said was planning to rebuild the infrastructure of Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp so that all three services run on a single unified platform.