Cartel Office: Meta may not merge user data without being asked
A legal dispute has come to an end: Meta has made a commitment to the Federal Cartel Office to make improvements and implement stricter data protection rules.
(Image: Koshiro K/Shutterstock.com)
After a five-year dispute between the German Federal Cartel Office Bundeskartellamt and Meta, some of which was fought out in the highest courts, it is now finally clear: the US company is not allowed to merge and process users' personal information from various platform operator services such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram without their consent. The German antitrust watchdogs had already ordered the company to do this in 2019, but Meta filed a lawsuit against it, claiming that it had exceeded its authority. The case went all the way to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which ruled in favor of the Bundeskartellamt in 2023. The Bonn authority has now ended its proceedings and Meta, for its part, has withdrawn its appeal to the DĂĽsseldorf Higher Regional Court.
As a result, the cartel watchdogs speak of an "overall package of measures" that gives users "significantly improved options regarding the linking of their data". For example, Meta has introduced an account overview that allows users to make largely free and informed decisions as to whether they want to use individual services of the group in isolation or link them. Cookie settings for separating data from Facebook and other Group services, exceptions to the merging of information, including for third-party providers that rely on Facebook login, and an upstream signpost in the data policy have also been added.
Pay or Consent is still under review
The cartel watchdogs do not believe that all of their concerns have been completely dispelled. They point out, for example, that the EU Commission is currently examining Meta's "Pay or Consent" payment model on the basis of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Overall, however, the steps taken by the group are recognized as sufficient "to refrain from enforcement measures and to conclude the proceedings on a discretionary basis". The key point here is that the use of Facebook no longer requires "consent to the unlimited collection and allocation of data to one's own user account", said Andreas Mundt, President of the Federal Cartel Office, expressing his satisfaction. In terms of legal clarity and intervention instruments, the situation today is very different to five years ago. Jutta Gurkmann from the German Federation of Consumer Organizations (vzbv) is pleased: "It is now officially clear that companies such as Meta are not allowed to exploit their market power for unchecked data hunting.
(vbr)
