Facebook and Google have challenged the authority of the European Commission and the jurisdiction limits of EU countries this week in an interesting step which would seem to bring giant US tech megacorps into conflict with the bureaucratic of the European Union machinery.
Facebook may not prevent its users from using fake names, a German privacy watchdog said on Tuesday (28 July), in the latest privacy setback for the US company in Europe.The Hamburg data protection authority, which is responsible for policing Facebook in Germany, said the social network firm could not unilaterally change users’ chosen usernames to their real names, nor could it ask them for official ID.
Read the full story at www.euractiv.com/sections/infosociety/german-regulator-orders-facebook-allow-pseudonyms-316682
Meanwhile Google has rejected the French data protection authority’s demand that it censor search results worldwide in order to comply with the European Court of Justice’s so-called right to be forgotten ruling. The company’s rejection of the ruling could see its French subsidiary facing daily fines, although no explicit sanction has yet been declared.
