Facebook Fined $269,000 a Day until Privacy Breaches Addressed

Facebook’s latest legal challenge may see them in some hot water if they don’t resolve their privacy stance with users who aren’t affiliated with the social media site, who still face privacy breach for simply clicking on a like button.

The latest call for Facebook to re-evaluate their privacy policy comes from the Privacy Commission, a Belgian watchdog group, who has sued the company in June for violating privacy laws. Last week’s ruling in court gave Facebook 48 hours to resolve their tracking of visitors who are not members of the social media network, or start paying daily fines of $269,000.

The court ruled in favor of the Commission, stating that the country’s privacy laws have been breached by using “datr” cookies to store personal information up to two years, of those who are unaware. “The judge ruled that this is personal data, which Facebook can only use if the internet user expressly gives their consent, as Belgian privacy law dictates,” the court’s statement has read.

The Privacy Commission added, “Facebook does this secretively: no consent is asked for this ‘tracking and tracing’ and the use of cookies,” the organization wrote in May. “No targeted information is provided. The available information is vague and authorizes just about anything.”

But Facebook are remaining firm in their stance that they have done nothing wrong, and are now appealing the decision. In previous cases similar, they have argued they are only governed by such privacy laws in Ireland, where their headquarters are located. “We’ve used the data cookie for more than five years to keep Facebook secure for 1.5 billion people around the world,” a Facebook spokesperson said after the ruling. “We will appeal this decision and are working to minimize any disruption to people’s access to Facebook in Belgium.”

This month’s decision is the latest legal confrontation to hit the social media giant. The ruling that privacy is to be held in upmost importance is a trump against the transference of data and essentially, spying of unwilling citizens.

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