07/02/2019 (Agence Europe) – The German competition authority (the 'Bundeskartellamt') issued a judgment on Thursday, February 7, prohibiting the American social networking giant Facebook from linking the data collected on its subsidiaries WhatsApp and Instagram to its users' profiles. The aim is to limit the "almost unlimited collection” of users' personal data, which places the group in a dominant position, explained the authority's president, Andreas Mundt, in a statement. The two applications owned by Facebook will be able to continue collecting their own data, but the social network will no longer be able to combine its users' data without their explicit consent. The German authority also believes that the extent of the social network’s collection and use of data constitutes a breach of European data protection rules. Facebook has one month to appeal against the decision and has already indicated that it intends to do so. (MF)