Spanish data watchdog fines 1.2 million euros to Facebook for using personal information without permission

The Spanish Agency for Data Protection has imposed a sanction on Facebook for several infractions of the Organic Law of Data Protection, according to their research, collect data on ideology, sex, religious beliefs or navigation data without clearly informing its users about its use or purpose.

The fine amounts to 1.2 million euros due to the two serious infringements and a very serious one that marks the legislation. The first two are 300,000 euros each and the second, 600,000 euros. According to the agency’s report, “the social network treats specially protected data for publicity purposes, among others, without obtaining the express consent of users,” something that the LOPD requires.

Can You Trust Facebook ?

Facebook has responded to the agency’s opinion that they “respectfully disagree” and that they intend to “appeal this decision.” In turn, they have indicated their collaborative attitude with the AEPD and other similar agencies at European level, although they make clear that they only respond to the corresponding Irish agency, where they have their European headquarters.

The work of the AEPD goes beyond the domain of Facebook itself and notes that the use of cookies is not properly reported on pages with the ‘Like’ button on the social network.The agency also expressly criticizes that the privacy policies of the social network are very vague and contain “generic expressions and unclear, and requires access to many different links to know.

“The most serious thing, finally, is that Facebook does not eliminate the information that it collects from all the habits of navigation of the users, but that it reuses it constantly. This is not the biggest sanction imposed against the social network founded by Mark Zuckerberg, however. Facebook was fined a much higher figure, 110 million euros, for the purchase of WhatsApp. According to the European Union, the US company did not adequately inform either the users of the messaging app or the institutions of the process.

Social Network Sites – Data Mining and NSA PRISM