Although Facebook’s user privacy conflicts with the U.S. government appear to be on the verge of being settled, the social networking king is facing increased pressure in Europe. The latest European nation to initiate legal action against Facebook is Germany, specifically the Hamburg European Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (HmbBfDI), which on Thursday posted a note from Dr. Johannes Caspar explaining that the agency was “preparing legal action against” Facebook over the social network’s facial recognition software for photo-tagging.
“Facebook has introduced this feature in Europe, without informing the user and without obtaining the required consent,” the note explains his note (translated), English-language German news outlet Deutsche Welle reported. “Unequivocal consent of the parties is required by both European and national data protection law.”
Both the Hamburg Data Protection Commissioner and Facebook acknowledge that Facebook has offered implementing an additional consent feature for users, the so called “checkbox” solution, which would have users to check a box saying they agree to the site’s terms of service before the features kick-in, similar to one that has been clamored for by the European Union and that eBay has implemented internationally.
But Caspar’s note says that the solution would require users “to agree to all terms of use of the network, including data usage guidelines,” and would only apply to users who sign up after the feature was introduced, not the over 200 million current European Facebook users.
Caspar’s note also points that his office engaged in “months of negotiations” with Facebook, but that “the result is disappointing.”
A Facebook spokesman released the following official statement to TPM via email in response to the Hamburg Data Protection Commissioner :
“We believe that any legal action is completely unnecessary. The Tag Suggestions feature on Facebook is fully compliant with EU data protection laws. On top of that, we have given comprehensive notice and education to our users about Tag Suggestions and we provide very simple tools for people to opt out if they do not want to use this feature. We have considered carefully different options for making people even more aware of our privacy policies and are disappointed that the Hamburg DPA has not accepted these.”
Facebook’s automatic photo tagging suggestions facial recognition feature was rolled out internationally in June after being implemented for U.S. Facebook users in December 2010.
Almost immediately, the company was hit with the threat of an EU data protection and privacy probe for potentially running afoul of the EU’s 1995 Data Protection Directive. Caspar himself earlier warned Facebook in an open letter released in August to alter the automatic photo tag suggestions feature from “opt-out” to “opt-in” or face legal repercussions.
In addition, Facebook is being audited by the Irish Data Protection Commissioner’s office and could face a penny fine there as well, although the actual implications of the Irish audit are greater than in the case of Hamburg because Facebook’s international headquarters are located in Dublin (more on this to come).
As Facebook explained the tag suggestions feature and facial recognition software in its note to U.S. users in December:
Because photos are such an important part of Facebook, we want to be sure you know exactly how tag suggestions work: When you or a friend upload new photos, we use face recognition software–similar to that found in many photo editing tools–to match your new photos to other photos you’re tagged in. We group similar photos together and, whenever possible, suggest the name of the friend in the photos…
Now if you upload pictures from your cousin’s wedding, we’ll group together pictures of the bride and suggest her name. Instead of typing her name 64 times, all you’ll need to do is click “Save” to tag all of your cousin’s pictures at once. By making tagging easier than before, you’re more likely to know right away when friends post photos. We notify you when you’re tagged, and you can untag yourself at any time. As always, only friends can tag each other in photos.
Facebook also noted that users who don’t want their name to be automatically suggested are be able to disable suggested tags their account’s Privacy Settings by clicking “Customize Settings” and “Suggest photos of me to friends.” The note also points users to additional information about the “tag suggestions” feature, although the original links have been broken, possibly due to updates to the Facebook Help Center. The same information can still be found here, Facebook informed TPM.
We’ve reached out to the Hamburg Data Protection Commissioner’s office for more information and will update when we receive a response.
