Facebook Fined For Misleading Users About What It Does With Their Data

This week, a watchdog organization in Italy announced that it will fine Facebook for failing to comply with an earlier order that required the company to inform users about what it does with their data.

According to the watchdog group, Facebook is still failing to inform users “with clarity and immediacy” about how it monetizes their data.

“The information provided by Facebook was generic and incomplete and did not provide an adequate distinction between the use of data necessary for the personalization of the service (with the aim of facilitating socialization with other users) and the use of data to carry out targeted advertising campaigns,” the group said.

Of course, Facebook defended itself by claiming to take the issue seriously, and vaguely alluded to changes it has already made to its policies.

“Facebook takes privacy extremely seriously and we have already made changes, including to our Terms of Service, to further clarify how Facebook uses data to provide its service and to provide tailored advertising,” the company said in response.

Facebook has faced similar fines before in the U.S., but it’s interesting how much more consistently European countries keep pressure on the social media giant to clean up its act. There’s a lesson there that U.S. regulators could certainly learn.




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