Facebook Owner Meta Criticises German Antitrust Order to Curb Data Collection, Calls it ‘Clearly Flawed’

Facebook parent Meta challenged the decision at a German court which subsequently sought guidance from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).

By Reuters | Updated: 10 May 2022 17:34 IST

Meta had abused its market power by collecting users' data without their consent

Highlights

The case underscores the mounting regulatory scrutiny worldwide
The German antitrust order was "clearly flawed"
The German order "serves the objective of protecting free competition"

Meta Platforms, owner of Facebook, on Tuesday criticised a landmark German antitrust order to curb its data collection as 'clearly flawed' and which undermines EU data protection rules.

Meta's criticism of the German antitrust watchdog came after the latter in 2019 said the world's largest social network had abused its market power by collecting users' data without their consent and ordered it to stop.

The competition enforcer said the data harvest included users' browsing habits when they visited a website with a Facebook 'like' button on it - even if an internet surfer didn't click on that button.

WhatsApp Message Timer Feature for Existing Chats in Testing on Android

The case underscores the mounting regulatory scrutiny worldwide of US tech giants and measures to rein in their power.

In the German case, however, the issue is also whether the watchdog exceeded its authority by using its antitrust power to address data protection concerns.

Meta challenged the decision at a German court which subsequently sought guidance from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).

Facebook Owner Meta's First Physical Store Now Open to Public

The German antitrust order was "clearly flawed" with its "far reaching restriction on Facebook's data processing", Meta lawyer Hans-Georg Kamann told the panel of 15 judges.

He criticised the German watchdog for not cooperating with the Irish data protection regulator which supervises Facebook because its European headquarters is in Ireland.

"The Bundeskartellamt has openly undermined the substantive and procedural requirements of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) law," Kamann said.

Joerg Nothdurft, lawyer for the German watchdog, dismissed the criticism, saying there had been contact with data protection regulators.

The German government defended the antitrust decision, saying that it was imperative for the competition enforcer to make data protection assessment as part of its investigation as online marketplaces use users' data to gain market power.

The German order "serves the objective of protecting free competition" and was not about data protection, its lawyer Philipp Krueger said.

The case is C-252/21 Meta Platforms and others.

How is Alexa faring in India? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.