A Belgian court has decided that a Facebook practice of
tracking and registering the internet usage of members and
non-members is unlawful and in breach of Belgian privacy law. The
decision gave Facebook forty eight hours from the moment they were
served with the order to change their practice, or face fines of
250,000 euros a day.
Background
The case was brought by the Belgian Privacy Commission and
revolves around the use by Facebook of a special "Datr"
cookie which it places within an individual's web browser if
they visit a Facebook page even if they were not a registered user
of the social network site. This cookie stays on the device for up
to two years and allows Facebook to consult it whenever the user
pays visits to Facebook pages or any page where they could
"like" or recommend a Facebook link. Facebook is able to
track how long they stayed on the site, what they clicked and any
preferences selected. The widespread use of social plug-ins,
including
