German Regulator Orders Facebook Stop Combining Data Sources, Drawing Stakeholder Concern

Germany’s competition enforcer Thursday ordered Facebook stop combining Instagram and WhatsApp user data, citing market abuse in a 2016 antitrust case. Facebook will appeal: The Bundeskartellamt “underestimates” Facebook’s “fierce” competition in Germany, “misinterprets” general data protection regulation compliance and “undermines” the consistency of European data law. “Using information across services helps to make them better and protect people’s safety,” the company said. Regulators need to “recognize personal data is necessary to innovation in the digital economy and act accordingly,” Center for Data Innovation Senior Policy Analyst Eline Chivot wrote. Germany is circumventing the GDPR, potentially opening new legal tools other countries could use against social media platforms, Cowen analyst Paul Gallant said.