'Unfair practice': Facebook fined $8.45 million in Italy for 'misleading' data practices

Italy’s antitrust regulator on February 17 announced a new $8.45 million fine against social media website Facebook for “misleading” data protection practices. According to a statement, the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) said that the tech giant has been accused of not accurately and fairly informing its users when their data was being collected. It is worth noting that Italy had already fined the social media platform 5 million euros in November 2018 for unfair commercial practices and ordered it to adjust its practices. 

The AGCM said, “Facebook Ireland Ltd. and Facebook Inc. failed to comply with the warning to remove the unfair practice on the use of user data and did not publish the corrective statement requested by the Authority”. 

“They still do not provide immediate and clear information on the collection and use of user data for commercial purposes. This is information that the consumer needs to decide whether or not to subscribe to the service, given the economic value that Facebook places on data provided by the user, which represents payment for the use of the service,” AGCM added. 

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Facebook ‘deceived’ users 

Facebook, on the other hand, confirmed that the social media network had appealed against the initial fine. While speaking to Euronews, a Facebook spokesperson said that the company noted AGCM’s announcement, however, they are still awaiting the Council of State decision on their appeal against the Authority’s initial findings. The spokesperson added that Facebook takes privacy “extremely seriously” and the company has already made changes, including their Terms of Service, to further clarify how Facebook uses data to provide its service and to provide tailored advertising. 

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Further, the social media platform said that it had made changes to their terms of service to clarify how Facebook makes money. By charging businesses and other organisations to display ads. However, according to AGCM, Facebook had deceived new users on the platform by not informing them “immediately and adequately” how it collects and uses its data for commercial purposes. 

The Italian officials have also said that the information provided by Facebook was “generic and incomplete” and did not distinguish between when data was used for personalising Facebook services, or for advertising campaigns. The AGCM said, “The current investigation has ascertained that the company has not published the corrective statement and has not ceased the established unfair practice”. 

(Image: AP)

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