German antitrust watchdog plans action on Facebook this year
German antitrust watchdog plans action on Facebook this
year
Douglas Busvine AUGUST 27, 2018 / 5:32 AM
BONN, Germany (Reuters) - Germany’s antitrust watchdog
expects to take first steps this year in its probe against Facebook after
finding that the social media giant abused its market dominance to gather data
on people without their knowledge or consent.
The probe is being closely watched in Europe amid
mounting concerns over leaks of data on tens of millions of Facebook users, as
well as the extensive use of targeted ads by foreign powers seeking to
influence elections in the United States.
The Federal Cartel Office objects in particular to how
Facebook acquires data on people from third-party apps - including its own
WhatsApp and Instagram services - and its online tracking of people who aren’t
even members.
“We are conscious that this should, and must, go
quickly,” cartel office President Andreas Mundt told a news conference on
Monday, adding that he hoped to take “first steps” this year. He declined to
elaborate.
The German probe is not expected to end in fines for
Facebook, in contrast to European Union probes into Google that have ended in
multi-billion-dollar penalties, most recently over the preinstallation of its
apps on Android smartphones.
Sources familiar with the matter say, however, that the
cartel office could require Facebook to take action to address its concerns if
the company fails to do so voluntarily.
Facebook responded earlier this year to the cartel
office’s request for information, and the authority was reviewing whether new
features - such as a “clear history” option announced by CEO Mark Zuckerberg in
May - would address its concerns.
“We need to establish whether this affects our
investigation and addresses our concerns,” Mundt said.
Separately, Mundt confirmed comments he made in a
newspaper interview earlier this month that he may launch an investigation into
the e-commerce industry under new powers that enable the cartel office to
launch sector-wide probes.
The focus would be on so-called “hybrid” platforms such
as U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon that sell their own products and services, but
that also host third-party traders.
“Our question is: what is the relationship between the
platform, which itself is a very powerful trader, and the traders who use the
platform?” said Mundt. He added that Amazon was the best-known of the
e-commerce platforms but his interest in the matter extended to other players.
The cartel office would not be looking at suspected tax
evasion by third-party traders on e-commerce platforms - an issue that
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government has vowed to tackle - saying this was a
matter for economic policy makers.
Reporting by Douglas Busvine, editing by Louise Heavens
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