The Federal Cartel Office and Meta have ended their years-long legal dispute. After many protests, the internet giant is now complying with the demands.
The Federal Cartel Office and Facebook parent company Meta have settled their long-standing legal dispute over the collection of user data. In 2019, Germany’s top competition authority banned the US group from merging data from various services such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram without the voluntary consent of users.
The choice between comprehensive data collection or not using the network is not acceptable, according to the cartel office. The US technology giant appealed this decision, which led to a lengthy legal battle involving several courts. Last year, Meta finally suffered a defeat at the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
After discussions with the cartel office, Meta gradually changed its business practices and ultimately complied with the demands of the competition authorities. Since last year, users have had a better overview of how their data is linked across different services. With a new account overview, Meta’s customers can now decide largely freely and informedly whether they want to use them in isolation or link them together, praised the cartel office.
Further measures were taken. Meta has made significant adjustments in the way it handles user data, said Andreas Mundt, head of the Cartel Office. “What is crucial is that using Facebook no longer depends on agreeing to limitless data collection.” Users now have significantly better control options when it comes to merging their data.
The measures include an upstream signpost that points out the choices at the beginning of the data policy – these are no longer hidden and difficult to find. Overall, users are given significantly improved control over the assignment of personal data from other meta services as well as third-party websites or apps to their respective Facebook accounts, explained Mundt.
According to the Cartel Office, Meta has withdrawn its complaint against the 2019 decision, making it final. The proceedings against Facebook have now been concluded, the competition authorities announced.
The Federal Association of Consumer Organizations (vzbv) also sees the use of the Cartel Office as a success for consumer protection. “Meta is not allowed to combine the user data from its various offers without being asked and use it for advertising purposes,” said vzbv expert Jutta Gurkmann. It is important that people can decide for themselves how their data is used.