Germany urges tough EU response to Facebook’s ‘intransparency’ in aftermath of massive data leak
New European Union regulations were already due to take effect in May that aim to force social media firms to better protect users’ online privacy
Germany’s justice minister on Thursday accused Facebook of unethical behaviour and said the social media giant should face a strong European response over a huge data leak involving millions more users than initially thought.
“Facebook is a network of intransparency,” Katarina Barley said. “Ethical convictions have fallen victim to commercial interests.”
She called for “a clear reaction from European countries” over the company’s misuse of private information.
Facebook is a network of intransparency. Ethical convictions have fallen victim to commercial interest
Some 310,000 users in Germany are among the 87 million people whose personal data was improperly shared with British political consultancy Cambridge Analytica, a Facebook spokesman said.
Media reports had initially suggested the data of some 50 million users had been hijacked in the privacy scandal, which has roiled the Silicon Valley titan and sparked wider questions about online data protection.
New European Union regulations were already due to take effect in May that aim to force social media firms to better protect users’ online privacy – or face fines of up to 4 per cent of annual revenues.
But Barley said the tough new measures may not go far enough.