Belgium has sued Facebook over privacy, and the case — which could affect people who don t even use Facebook — is scheduled to be heard in a Brussels court Thursday.
The lawsuit follows through on a threat the Belgian Privacy Commission made last month. As I wrote then, the commission published a report slamming the social network s privacy practices related to the use of its like and share buttons. That report followed research released in the spring that showed Facebook tracks logged-out users as well as non-users who visit sites that use plugins such as the like button, and that it does so without explicit consent.
The commission, which says Facebook is breaking Belgian and European laws, recommended changes. Willem Debeuckelaere, the commission s president, reportedly said then that it was make or break time for Facebook.
The company was taken aback by the Belgian commission s action: We were surprised and disappointed that, after the [Belgium privacy commission] had already agreed to meet with us on the 19 June to discuss their recommendations, they took the theatrical action of bringing Facebook Belgium to court on the day beforehand, a spokesperson said, according to the Guardian.
Facebook has said the tracking of non-users is the result of a software bug that it is fixing. As for the rest of it, Facebook has said it s complying with European law, and that it s regulated not by the Belgian commission but by the Irish Data Protection Commissioner, where its European headquarters is based.
Facebook is also facing a lawsuit in Austria over its tracking of logged-out users, as I wrote in April.
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