Photodisc/Thinkstock(BRUSSELS) — Facebook must stop tracking Belgian users who are surfing the web outside of the social network — or face a fine of more than $300,000 a day, a Belgian court ruled.
The court also ordered Facebook to delete data that it has already gathered from these users. If Facebook doesn’t abide by this order, it will face a fine of $312,000 a day, the court ruled.
Facebook “doesn’t sufficiently inform” clients about the data it gathers or explain what it does with the information, the Brussels Court of First Instance said in a statement, according to Bloomberg.
“Facebook can follow your surfing behavior without you realizing it, let alone want it, on the basis of those invisible pixels that Facebook has placed on more than 10,000 other websites,” the court said.
Facebook said it is “disappointed” with the verdict and plans to appeal, Facebook’s head of public policy for Europe, Richard Allan, told Bloomberg.
“Over recent years, we have worked hard to help people understand how we use cookies to keep Facebook secure and show them relevant content,” he said.
“The cookies and pixels we use are industry-standard technologies. We require any business that uses our technologies to provide clear notice to end-users, and we give people the right to opt-out of having data collected on sites and apps off Facebook being used for ads.”
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