Policy Observatory

EU data protection authorities investigate Facebook's new privacy policy

Wed 4 Feb 2015, 16:20

The European Union’s data protection authorities are getting serious about issues with Facebook’s new privacy policy. They have formed a task force which will deal with part of the policy that could very well violate EU privacy laws.

The task force was formed on Tuesday during a meeting of European data protection authorities and will be led by Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and perhaps Italy, said the spokeswoman for Bart Tommelein, Belgium’s state secretary for privacy. The data protection authorities (DPAs) for instance take issue with Facebook’s practice of following its users off site, collecting information when they use third-party websites and apps that use a Facebook “like” button, a Facebook log-in or Facebook’s measurement and advertising services. What’s more, the authorities don’t like Facebook claiming the right to use information and photos from user profiles for commercial purposes and take issue with Facebook sharing personal user data with third parties, she said.

Tags: Data Protection Authority, task force, social network, privacy policy, investigation

U.S. judge says LinkedIn cannot block startup from public profile data

Tue 15 Aug 2017, 00:20

A U.S. judge on Monday ruled that Microsoft Corp's LinkedIn unit cannot prevent a startup from accessing public profile data, in a test of how much control a social media site can wield over information its users have deemed to be public.

Tags: antitrust laws, social network, Internet, start ups, innovation, artificial intelligence, public information, public profile, LinkedIn, court decision, US, injuction, access to information

German ‘hate-speech’ law tries to regulate Facebook and others - will it work?

Wed 3 Jan 2018, 20:00

In September 2017, a law with the euphonious name ‘Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz’ (‘network enforcement law’) was adopted in Germany. Its goal is to force social networks to remove hate speech and certain other unlawful content within 24 hours in obvious cases, otherwise within 7 days upon being notified. The transition period ended on 31 December 2017 - meaning the new rules can now be enforced. Failure to delete content within the given deadlines can result in heavy administrative fines of up to EUR 50m.

Tags: illegal content, social network, Germany, hate speech