Germany: Gov threatens curbs on Facebook’s data use

Germany is threatening curbs on how Facebook amasses data from millions of users in what would be an unprecedented intervention in the social network’s business model.

Andreas Mundt, head of Germany’s main antitrust agency, the Federal Cartel Office, said Facebook could be banned from collecting and processing third-party user data as one possible outcome of an investigation that in December concluded the US technology group was abusing its dominant market position.

“We are blazing a trail in this case,” Mr Mundt said in an interview. “We are looking very closely at the connection between data and market dominance, data and market power, and the possible abuse of data collection.”

The German probe goes to the heart of the way Facebook makes money from the personal data of its 2 billion users and reflects growing disquiet in Europe about the influence of the big US technology groups.

The investigation focuses on how Facebook lets advertisers target online advertisements at particular consumers, based on information about the way they surf the internet.

Full Content: Capital

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