Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
Updated, 17.35
IRELAND’S DATA PROTECTION COMMISSIONER (DPC) will be asked to investigate the legality of Facebook’s ‘Like’ button in the coming days, after an equivalent German official deemed the feature to be in breach of EU law.
TheJournal.ie has learned that the DPC will shortly receive an official complaint about the button from an Austrian-based lobby group, which has already filed 16 other complaints relating to Facebook’s data handling and privacy settings in the last few days.
If the complaint is successful, Facebook may be forced to adopt radical changes in the way it operates the ubiquitous ‘Like’ feature – or potentially face court action demanding that the feature be disabled for hundreds of millions of worldwide users.
A spokesman for the lobby group, ‘Europe v Facebook‘, said that complaints about the legality of the ‘Like’ button had not specifically been included in its first batch of complaints, filed last week, but that a follow-up complaint dealing specifically with the feature would be lodged in the coming days.
The office of Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner, Billy Hawkes, will then examine whether the technology behind the button constitutes a breach of privacy law in this country.
Although the group behind the complaints is based in Austria, the complaints are being filed with the Irish DPC because Facebook’s Terms of Use declares users outside the US and Canada to be in a contract with Facebook Ireland Ltd, the company’s Dublin operation which acts as its headquarters for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Last week the data protection commissioner in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, Thilo Weichert, deemed that the ‘Like’ button was a breach of local, federal and EU law – and said institutions in his state would receive heavy fines if they did not remove the trademark ‘thumbs-up’ button from their sites.
The incoming complaint focuses on how the ‘Like’ button allows Facebook to track the online activity of any web user – even those who are not among the social networking site’s 750 million members worldwide.
By logging the IP addresses of internet users when they visit pages containing an embedded ‘Like’ button, the social network is theoretically able to build a profile of that user’s browsing habits, and then use this to its commercial advantage.
This was illegal under EU law, Weichert argued, because Facebook would harvest this data through web servers based in the US – and not within the EU, as the commissioner said was required.
While Weichert claimed that users could expect their browsing history to be kept on record for around two years, Facebook in response said it deleted such data after 90 days.
A spokesperson for the DPC here told TheJournal.ie that while its office had noted the German decision, it had not yet begun an investigation into whether the ‘Like’ button complied with data protection laws effective in Ireland.
The spokesperson did confirm, however, that the office would examine “different aspects of Facebook Ireland’s compliance with Irish data protection law” in light of any complaints received from the Austrian group.
Among complaints already received are allegations that Facebook retains data – such as status updates, chat messages, photo tags, deleted friendships and ‘pokes’ – even after the user removes them from their own personal profile.
Other complaints filed by the Austrian group include Facebook’s ability to build ‘shadow profiles’ of non-users by harvesting data supplied by other users – such as phonebook databases.
The group also argues that material posted by users on others’ pages can be shared in ways not known to them, and that third-party applications installed by a user’s ‘friends’ can access their own personal data – with no guarantee of privacy standards.
A Facebook spokesperson said the company was aware of the complaints being filed by the Austrian group.
“The Irish Data Protection Commission has well-established procedures for resolving such issues through dialogue with the relevant data controller which we expect to follow in this case,” the spokesperson said.
Who gives a flying fiddlers!
They know exactly where you live. They know what you like. They know the porn sites you look up, they know that you surf the internet looking at grotesque acts of bestiality. Then they serve you adverts from animal porn stars and you click on it. They know your dirty little secrets and they make money from it.
That’s probably just you Inda.
Can someone tell me please, is the issue not parallel to how Google manage browsing histories? And they have a 1 button… Isn’t that the same thing? If so, why have the same people not challenged Google too… ?? Thanks in advance.
I don’t get it, people volunteer to join Facebook. Are European governments afraid of feedback they can’t control?
People are clearly missing the point here, Its not about being a member of facebook. its about tracking websites you visit which feature the like button. It doesnt matter if you click it or ignore it, the very fact you were on the page is logged. Personally I dont have a problem with this but I can see how some people would.
I’m analysing people’s browsing habits right now: 60% of people don’t read the article they’re commenting on.
The principle being addressed here is interesting, but I suspect the ‘Like’ button is a drop in the ocean. It’s an inevitable fact of the internet that your browsing history is being recorded somewhere and will be looked at by someone, either now or years down the line. Anonymity is a myth for 99% of users, only the very focussed cna keep their use history secret. Attacking Facebook on this issue is just going after the easy, visible and relatively accountable target – a better approach would be to teach people that they leave a permanent digital trail that can potentially be used commercially, legally or illegally by pretty much anyone.
Good point about Google+
The overall point is something people really don’t understand: You are being watched all the time online; every website you visit, how long you spend on a particular page and even where your mouse is moving on a page can be tracked. Combine that with all the personal information you provide voluntarily through profiles, tweets, opinions, comments etc and a pretty substantial profile can be constructed. The old chestnut of ‘if you have nothing to hide yadda yadda’ simply doesn’t stand when you consider that this information is being used all the time by regimes like Syria, Iran etc but is also being used by the FBI, CIA, DHS etc and they have ruined the lives of many innocent people whom they wrongfully accused and detained. Right now both Australia and Canada are putting together legislation to give their respective governments and law agencies almost unrestricted surveillance powers (see EFF website).
And if we know all that and don’t care?
It’s my data. If I’m happy to share it than it’s my business.
I agree with Michael. Who gives a fiddlers, it is not compulsory to use it. FFS have they nothing better to do than this.
Howard (and Michael): The whole point about this is that it doesn’t matter whether you’re a Facebook member or not. Irrespective of whether you’ve ever joined Facebook or typed ‘www.facebook.com’ into your browser, the way the Like button currently works means that Facebook can build a log of your internet browsing simply because you’ve gone to some pages that feature the ‘Like’ button.
Is there a dislike button for this article?
No, but there is one for your comment which is being used quite a lot.
Uptight Much?? Just a bit of fun… Or do you and tour friend Charlie Sheen not enjoy fun?? Lol rofl pmsl etc
bad grammar much?
Ironic that at the bottom of this story there is…….. a “Like” button
If you dont like facebook dont join it.Simple as that.
Gareth, did u bother reading the piece, it can track u even if u’r not joined up to facebook. But as the largest social networking site it goes beyond choice, It needs to be regulated. In some regimes even the word ‘choice’ would be flagged!
See Gavan’s comment above, its clear you don’t understand how the like button actually works
It’s not "simple as that" They are still recording your data even if you are NOT a member of Facebook!!!
It’s kinda like if you went shopping one Saturday and some company followed you all day and record what you did and where you went your home address… Then the company "sell" this info to another company in which they send junk mail to your house, flyers on your car… etc…
Now imagine if some con artiste acquired this info on you. They know where you live!!!!
If the main legal issue is that Facebook currently stores EU browsing data on US-based web servers, can they deal with this simply by storing EU browsing data on EU servers?
Ok – I get the bit about Facebook being able to collect browsing data without me being a Facebook user or having clicked the Like button. It is a bit ominous.
But this question about where the data is stored seems to me to be a very anachronistic law. This is the digital age. My payroll each month might be processed by my company in Singapore, I log in to approve a purchase order and the server is in Brazil. I go home and log on to YouTube and my browsing hops through servers in Kiev and Bangalore across the internet.
Having laws specifying the country into which I must keep data might allow for better data protection controls, but in business today, you host your business applications, your e-mails, your social networking sites wherever is most cost effective.
I started reading this and started to lose the will to live in this over regulated world….. (pity they didn’t take the banking system this seriously)
Facebook have an office here so I think we already know how this is going to end.
So google analytics is illegal too then right?
That depends on whether it’s the data scraping, or the fact that it’s done outside the EU, that’s illegal. The German DPC I mentioned reckons it’s the latter issue.
Ok.so big brother is watching us all the time from the use of cctv,internet,smart phones and iphones.Theres nothing we can do about it.Its a fact of life today.Thanks to everybody for explaining it to me.Im not on facebook and never will be.
It had nothing to do with people on Facebook!!!! If you never use facebook this still can affect you!!!!
GARETH YOUR TOOOOOO LATE – this page HAS a LIKE BUTTON therefore facebook is already tracking your every click on any and every page you visit from here on in REGARDLESS of the fact that you have never visited facebook or have a facebook profile or have never interacted with anyone who has a facebook account. If someone you know has a photo of you they can download it onto their facebook page and tag you – ie. when someone moves a curser over YOUR face in the photo, your name will pop up beside your face and the date the picture was downloaded will also be visible. That photo is out there with you tagged in it FOREVER for EVERYONE to see it!!!!!!!! And what if that photo showed you doing something naughty and your partner sees it. What if you’d split up with a psycho boyfriend/girlfriend and didnt want them knowing where you are socialising or what your doing?????
Store the data in Ireland.
Problem solved.
Now, where’s my consultancy moneies?
Check is in the post Terry
I want a dislike button. Man I hate so much. : )
There is no privacy on line never has been never will be.
Someone people have far too much time on their hands and for once it’s not the people who use Facebook.
Is that all these “Jinnets ” have to do with their time !!
RE: Privacy and the Like …. It seems the box containg the Like function is what tracks FB and non FB users by monitoring their IP movements before and aftersite so surely it up to the sites hosting this function to decide if it viewers are being tracked or not. By virtue of the fact that Jounal.ie used the Fb “like” module on it’s site it has been unwittingly sending data to american servers. Now that this new information is out , will EU websites, such as the lovely Journal.ie, trade huge amounts of traffic it recieves via FB for the data privacy of it’s readers or simply wait for the slow legal machine to outlaw this process? The slightly unnerving reality of data-srcaping is that your time-stamped IP address and hence terrestrial address and identity is sitting on servers in the US in duplicate. It would seem we’re on American turf here. (a country that has very different notions of freedom and/of information than we do.)
about a minute ago, Like
It’s great that you can ‘dislike’ something and have it tracked so much it becomes data and that Europe have it as data also. I have to pay a ‘universal social charge’ to a past government ‘cos they screwed me over and people don’t feel the need to get irate. Get a grip, Folks! Wish I could think of a scam involving my dead budgie’s cousin’s wife’s aunt’s nephew’s chipmunk’s nuts from Nigeria could gain me huge sponduliks.
Speaking of Privacy and the like:
Look what I just came across…..
its a big pile of crap really ! at least you have a choice to push the button or not , its data collection over a comment or YouTube video every site does it , mainly Google or the iPhone tracking your movements (not bowl movements) it doesn’t phase me in the least and either should you
Ignorance is bliss.
Bowl movements? I always put mine in the dishwasher when I’m finished
lol… some people haven’t a clue!!!
What’s your bank details because I need to lodge $53,9765,335 from my dead ant’s account in Nigeria before the government get their hands on it!!!
i dislike that
Same problem with browser cookies. Is there a decision on the legislation there yet?
Browser cookies aren’t the same. They’re stored on your own PC and you have control over whether or not to keep them or delete them.
God bless the Austrians looking out for our well being. Of course they have a history of producing concerned citizens including that lad with the funny wee tash.
Honestly the crap civil servants are coming up with to justify their irrelevant existence
this is just about keeping the wheels of beurocracy firmly clogged
The complaint was made by an Austrian based lobby group. Nothing to do with Civil Sevants. Read the article first!!!
Like.
Start Page. com, No IP tracking
have your say