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 Belgium's Privacy Protection Commission (CPVP/CBPL), which is
working with German, Dutch, French and Spanish counterparts,
launched the blistering attack after trying to find out more about
the U.S. tech giant's practices.
It urged Internet users to install privacy software to shield
themselves from Facebook's tracking systems, whether they have an
account with the social network or not.
The show of strength from the Belgian regulator, which does not have
the power to levy fines, highlights a growing willingness across the
28-member bloc to ensure big U.S. tech companies abide by European
laws.
"Facebook tramples on European and Belgian privacy laws", the
Commission said in a statement on Friday after analyzing changes the
company made to its privacy policies in January.
It said Facebook had refused to recognize Belgian and other European
Union national jurisdictions, with the company insisting it was
subject only to the law in Ireland, the site of its European
headquarters.
"Facebook has shown itself particularly miserly in giving precise
answers," the watchdog said, adding that the results of the study by
a group of researchers were "disconcerting".
A Facebook spokeswoman questioned the Belgians' authority but said
it would review the study's recommendations with the Irish data
protection commissioner: "We work hard to make sure people have
control over what they share and with whom."
"Facebook is already regulated in Europe and complies with European
data protection law, so the applicability of the CBPL's efforts are
unclear," she said.
Ireland has come under criticism from EU states for policies some
say are soft on the multinational companies Dublin wants to attract,
whether on data protection or corporate taxation.
AMERICANS UNDER FIRE
The Commission said Facebook would not explain in detail how it uses
data it collects and highlighted problems with plug-ins such as
Facebook's "like" button, which it said affects many who do not have
an account with the social network.
Facebook is among a number of firms under fire in Europe over how it
uses data it collects. It places tracking "cookies" when anyone
visits a Facebook page, meaning it can track the online activities
of a huge number of non-customers. Facebook later said this was a
bug and it is working to fix it.
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Google <GOOGL.O> has been forced to change its privacy policies
following investigations by several European authorities.
A year ago, the EU's highest court delivered a landmark judgment
ordering Google to remove links to outdated information from
searches for people's names, saying Google's Spanish division meant
it had to abide by Spanish law.
More broadly, the European Commission launched an anti-trust case
against Google last month and is studying whether to pursue German
and French proposals for an Europe-wide regulator for Internet
platforms.
EU competition authorities are also probing Apple <AAPL.O> and
Amazon <AMZN.O> over low tax deals with Ireland and Luxembourg.
Some European politicians, angered by revelations of U.S. espionage
activities in Europe, say U.S. firms are too dominant, discouraging
local start-ups and jeopardizing privacy laws set up in response to
20th-century abuses by authoritarian leaders.
U.S. President Barack Obama, who is trying to negotiate a landmark
transatlantic free trade deal with the EU, complained this year that
Europe appeared to be throwing up protectionist barriers to
successful U.S. technology firms.
(Editing by David Clarke)
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