EU: Sites Using Facebook ‘Like’ Button Are Responsible For User Data
A new EU ruling against Facebook (and more importantly against other websites) suggests that sites using Facebook’s Like Button will be held responsible for the data the sites share with Facebook.
According to the Court of Justice of the European Union, various websites that use Facebook’s Like Button plugin can’t send users’ data to Facebook without their permission.
How Does This Work?
Presently, websites often have Facebook’s Like button plugin mostly to spread their reach to more users and obtain user data while the page loads, even when they haven’t clicked the Like button. Now, websites would require user consent to do this.
In addition to this, websites will be required to provide a “legitimate” reason for sending user data to Facebook.
EU Court Ruling
The EU court decision involves the example of a German-based clothing company Fashion ID, which was prosecuted for transmitting users’ data to Facebook via the same Like button plugin.
Furthermore, the use of the Facebook Like button plugin on part of Fashion ID was to make its products more visible to the users and get more customers.
It is suggested that Fashion ID was no longer controlling the user’s data once the data was sent to Facebook.
In a statement to TechCrunch, Facebook said it will thoroughly look into the EU ruling and will make sure the plugins on various websites benefit users.
To recall, Facebook recently settled with the FTC and is liable to pay a fine of $5 billion and will have to follow various security and privacy-related rules and regulations to make Facebook a safer place for users.
Also Read: MIT Guy Accuses Facebook Of ‘Stealing His Ideas’ For Libra Cryptocurrency
