A Belgian court has ruled that Facebook needs to stop tracking the Internet data of people who visit their site but have not signed up with the social networking giant. They are giving the US company 48 hours to comply with the ruling or else they would need to pay 250,000 euros ($269,000) per day until they finally remove their datr cookie that has been used to track the different sites a user visits, even if they don’t have a Facebook account.
The Belgian court announced that this datr cookie is in violation of Belgian privacy laws since the data that they’re accessing is personal data, which can only be accessed by an Internet company if the “Internet user expressly gives their consent.” The judge has ordered Facebook to “stop tracking and registering Internet usage by people who surf the Internet in Belgium” within 48 hours following the release of the statement. Failure to comply will mean they will have to pay fines of $269,000 per day until they stop the tracking cookie.
What happens is that when a user visits a Facebook profile, page, or any link to a post, when they click like or share, it lodges on to the user’s device. If they have an account on the social media site, then that’s well within the “agreement” when they signed up for it. But this happens even when the person hasn’t signed up. The cookie has then attached itself to the device for the next two years and Facebook “consults” it whenever that person visits again.
As expected, Facebook will appeal the decision and has assured users that the datr cookie is safe and they have been using it for more than five years. “We will appeal this decision and are working to minimize any disruption to people’s access to Facebook in Belgium,” said the spokesman.
VIA: AFP
