Belgium's data watchdog has issued new recommendations to Facebook, calling on the company to more clearly explain its practice of collecting internet user data through invisible pixel website elements monitorings.
The country is reportedly following the line of France and the European Commission to take various actions against Facebook, aimed at fines, for privacy violations.
Το tracking pixel ή εικονοστοιχείο παρακολούθησης δεν είναι ούτε ένα ορατό εικονίδιο ούτε κάποιο cookie. Έρχεται με την μορφή μιας γραμμής κώδικα που φορτώνεται στο παρασκήνιο της by clicking heres, as users visit the social network with their browser of choice. The code creates a tiny image the size of a pixel, the smallest visual element on a digital display that is nearly invisible to the human eye.
Facebook has long allowed its advertisers to create targeted marketing using invisible tracking pixels to measure the number of Facebook users who see their ads on the social network, track sales conversions, and get their navigation history.
Once the pixel is loaded into a browser, it can send the user's IP address and activity on the web to the server on the page containing the ad. In addition to Facebook, tracking pixels are commonly used in web analytics to implement targeted advertising.
The Belgian regulator has expressed concern that Facebook receives too much personal data for targeted advertising. He also pointed out that Facebook over-monitors Internet users without providing them with sufficient checks in the form of consent.
The Dutch regulator announced earlier that Facebook breached Dutch privacy law for the same reasons. However, instead of imposing a fine, he worked with Facebook to take some corrective action. These measures appear to have been implemented by the social network but do not cover all the concerns of the regulator.
France's data regulator had fined Facebook €150.000 for infringement of the data protection rules, and chose not to work with Facebook to implement any changes.
Europe's controversy with Facebok does not seem to stop there. The European Commission also imposed a fine of € 110 for misleading operations on how the company combines WhatsApp users' data with Facebook accounts to create targeted ads.
Belgium has not yet imposed a fine on Facebook. The Belgian regulator will examine the legality of all Facebook data tracking mechanisms before allowing Facebook's legal service to be heard at the end of this year.
