The Facebook social network could once again find itself under the scope of European data protection authorities after revelations in mid-August about its audio data collection practices.
After a long period of denial, Facebook finally admitted that it had transcribed audio chats carried out on its mobile application, Messenger, by some users, including about 50 Europeans.
The social network reportedly employed hundreds of subcontractors to whom it sent anonymous samples of these messages in order to improve its tool for automatically transcribing audio clips. Facebook said it had asked users for their permission to collect these samples and assured that it had stopped listening.
Asked about a reaction from the European Commission on Wednesday 28 August, the institution's spokesperson, Mina Andreeva, recalled that it is the responsibility of national data protection authorities to monitor compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
The Irish Data Protection Authority, which is the lead authority in the EU for Facebook, notified the incident to the national authorities of the 14 Member States from which the alleged affected users originated. On Monday, the German Data Protection Authority reported that it had launched an investigation into these practices. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)