User data

Germany and Meta settle long-standing dispute

(Bild: AFP)

The German Federal Cartel Office and Facebook parent company Meta have settled their long-running legal dispute over the collection of user data. In 2019, Germany's highest competition authorities had prohibited the US company from simply combining user data from various services - such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. 

The cartel office stated that voluntary consent was required for this. The choice of either agreeing to unlimited data collection or not being able to use the social network at all is inadmissible.

The US technology giant appealed against the decision and several courts were involved in the protracted legal dispute. Last year, Meta finally suffered a defeat before the European Court of Justice.

Following discussions with the German Cartel Office, the technology company gradually changed its business practices and ultimately complied with the demands of the competition authorities. Since last year, the US company has given users a better overview of how their data is linked to the various services.

With the new account overview, "Meta's customers were able to make a largely free and informed decision for the first time as to whether they want to use Meta services in isolation or link them together", said the German Cartel Office, assessing this change positively.

Further measures were also taken by the internet company. Meta has made significant adjustments to the way it handles user data, says Andreas Mundt, Head of the Cartel Office. "The key point here is that the use of Facebook no longer requires that you consent to the unlimited collection and allocation of data to your own user account, even if the data is not actually collected by the Facebook service."

Better control
The measures taken by Meta include an upstream signpost, which the company uses at the beginning of its data policy to point out the options available to users. Overall, users are given "significantly improved control" over the assignment of personal data from other Meta services as well as websites or apps from other companies to their respective Facebook account, says Mundt.

According to the Cartel Office, Meta withdrew its appeal against the 2019 decision, after which it became final. The Facebook proceedings have now been concluded, according to the competition authorities.

"Success for consumers"
The German Federation of Consumer Organizations (vzbv) also sees the antitrust authority's intervention as a success for consumers. "Meta is not allowed to merge the user data of its various offers without being asked and monetize it for advertising purposes," says vzbv expert Jutta Gurkmann. It is important that people themselves decide how their data is used.