Thilo Weichert, the data protection commissioner in Schleswig Holstein, has claimed the Facebook 'like' button is in violation of European Law. Citing technical analysis from his offices Weichert states that user data is collected without consent through use of the 'like' button.
"Whoever visits facebook.com or uses a plug-in must expect that he or she will be tracked by the company for two years," he said, urging Internet users to 'keep their fingers from clicking on social plug-ins' and 'not set up a Facebook account' to avoid being profiled.
The commissioner has since ordered the shutdown of fan pages in Schleswig Holstein, threatening legal action if website owners fail to comply. Those with fan pages must 'immediately stop the passing on of user data to Facebook in the USA by deactivating the respective services'.
A Facebook spokesman admitted to social networking site allows companies to access 'information such as the IP address' of users who visit a page via the 'like' button but insisted the company is in full compliance with European law.
"We delete this technical data within 90 days...That is in keeping with normal industry standards."
This report follows a recent Facebook controversy in which Germany stated the newly introduced facial-recognition software featured on the social networking site also violates privacy law. You can read about that on the BD Eye blog here.
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