On Thursday, 11 April, Belgian MEP Marc Tarabella (S&D) expressed his alarm that deactivating a Facebook account enables citizens to hide their personal data from the eyes of other users but not from Facebook, which continues to store their data up to 30 days after the account is permanently deleted (and not deactivated)—without the knowledge of the social network’s users.
On the same day, he asked the European Commission to investigate this practice of the American social networking giant, which he considers deceptive.
“When you comb through the page dedicated to the data usage policy, at no point is it written that Facebook continues to monitor your online activities after your account has been deactivated; this is clearly a deceptive practice”, points out the MEP, who specialises in consumer protection, in a statement.
He added: “A company that wishes to restore consumer confidence cannot use its users’ personal data this way without being clear about the terms of use concerning this data. It is Europe’s job to remind companies of the rules of good governance and respect for private data and, if necessary, to impose sanctions on repeat offenders who violate the regulations.”
Two days earlier, the European Commission applauded the changes Facebook made to its terms of use, which now clarify how the American giant uses personal data to generate revenue—a step forward achieved under pressure from a coordinated effort by national consumer protection authorities and the European institution (see EUROPE 12233/11 and 12232/13). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)