Facebook told to stop tracking in Belgium

Facebook has been requested to quit following individuals without assent, by a court in Belgium.

The organization has been advised to delete every information it had assembled on individuals who did not utilize Facebook. The court governed the information was assembled unlawfully.

Belgium’s protection watchdog said the site had infringed upon security laws by placing tracking code – known as cookies – on third party sites.

Facebook said it would appeal against the decision.

The social networking website faces fines of $311,000 a day if it doesn’t abide the court’s ruling.

The court said Facebook must “stop following and recording internet use by people surfing in Belgium, until it complies with Belgian privacy laws”.

“Facebook must also destroy all personal data obtained illegally.”

The decision is the most recent in a long-running question between the social network website and the Belgian commission for the protection of privacy (CPP).

In 2015, the CPP complained that Facebook tracked individuals when they went to pages on the site or clicked “like” or “share”, regardless of them being not a member.

It won its case, however Facebook had the decision toppled in 2016.

Presently the court has again concurred with the discoveries of the CPP.

Facebook said it was “disappointed” by the decision.

Richard Allan, the company’s vice-president of public policy in Europe, said: “The cookies and pixels we use are industry standard technologies, and enable hundreds of thousands of businesses to grow their businesses and reach customers across the EU.”

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