Facebook Inc. Says European Rule Makers In 'Battle For Power'

Facebook Inc.

hit more flack over its privacy protections in Europe Friday when a regulatory agency there accused it of breaking the law. "It's make or break time," Belgium's Privacy Commission's President Willem Debeuckelaere reportedly said at a press conference Friday. The agency, which lacks the power to impose fines, said Facebook runs afoul of European privacy law by failing to obtain explicit consent from users to track them for advertising purposes http://www.privacycommission.be/sites/privacycommission/files/documents/recommandation_04_2015.pdf Regulators in at least half a dozen European countries are concerned about privacy issues related to Facebook. Stephen Deadman on Thursday said the investigations stem from a "battle for power" and called on the European Commission to enforce a "one-stop shop" for compliance. https://privacyassociation.org/news/a/finding-the-right-path-forward-for-european-data-protection-regulation/ "The regulatory actions we've recently experienced foreshadow the likely consequences if the one-stop shop is rejected or seriously watered down," Deadman said in an essay appearing on the International Association of Privacy Professionals's Web site. Facebook contends that control over data concerning its European users is vested in its Irish operations. The company has contested the jurisdictional authority of Belgium regulators. The Belgium commission on Friday called on Facebook to halt the tracking of users who have deactivated their accounts or are logged out of Facebook. Tracking users via the company's "Like" button should be done only with explicit user consent, the commission said. Debeuckelaere's group in February and again in April warned that Facebook privacy procedures may violate European rules. But Facebook, which revamped its privacy procedures in November, recently disputed the substance of those warnings. http://newsroom.fb.com/news/h/setting-the-record-straight-on-a-belgian-academic-report/ The commission on Friday also accused Facebook of offering inadequate responses to multiple inquiries related to its investigation.