The government agency suspects that Facebook violates Germany’s data protection laws with its conditions of use, and that it may have a dominant position in the social networking market in country.
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The Federal Cartel Office is examining whether the terms breach data protection laws and whether imposing them is an antitrust violation, the authority said in an e-mailed statement on Wednesday.
Bundeskartellamt understands that Facebook enjoys a dominant position in the German market for social networks, the anti-monopoly watchdog said in a statement. At issue is whether Facebook’s extensive terms of service, the conditions users have to sign off on before being allowed to join, are sufficiently clear and comprehensive, explaining exactly how Facebook uses the personal data it gathers and stores from its users.
“We are exploring right now what concrete measures would suit the interest of European businesses best so that they can fully benefit from the opportunities that data-driven innovation has to offer to them”, Europe’s Digital Commissioner Gü nther Oettinger said last week. Almost 84 percent of Facebook’s members are outside the United States and Canada.
The regulator said it was investigating whether Facebook abused its market power by failing to adequately inform its users of the scope and nature of data collection on their Internet surfing habits.
Facebook is the world’s largest social network.
A spokeswoman for Facebook in Germany said the company was confident it was operating within the law and would cooperate fully with German authorities in their investigation.
“Market dominating companies have a special responsibility”, said Andreas Mundt, the head of the cartel office.
The case itself is odd, given that data protection violations are not normally linked to competition rules. The French and Irish competition regulators were not immediately available to comment.
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However, the commission previously considered and rejected big data issues when it approved Google’s acquisition of online advertising firm DoubleClick in 2008 and Facebook’s purchase of WhatsApp in 2014.
