Spanish regulators impose $1.4mn fine on Facebook

Facebook and its data-privacy troubles never seem to end. In a recent such case, Spanish regulators have issued a $1.4 million fine against Facebook for collecting potentially sensitive personal information from users.

The Hill reports, the fine was handed down by the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) after the regulator conducted an investigation into how Facebook collects, stores and uses the data of its users for advertising purposes. The AEPD authority said that similar probes were also conducted in Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands.

As per their investigation, Facebook had not obtained adequate consent from its users throughout the process to run the advertisements. Sharing of private information with the third party without prior consent from the user is a serious offense.

In a statement, the AEPD authorities said, "Facebook's privacy policy contains generic and unclear terms... The social network uses specifically protected data for advertising, among other purposes, without obtaining users' express consent as data protection law demands, a serious infringement."

The ruling by AEPD focused on three central infringements of data protection law committed by Facebook. two of which were considered “serious” and one that was identified as “very serious” by the regulatory body.

However, Facebook said in a statement it “respectfully disagrees” with the agency’s decision and will appeal further. with more than 2 billion users worldwide Facebook states that its, “users choose which information they want to add to their profile and share with others, such as their religion. However, we do not use this information to target adverts to people.”

Investigations by AEPD further revealed that Facebook kept information for more than 17 months after users closed their accounts. It further said, using cookies, Facebook also collects data from people who do not have an account on the social network but navigate other pages containing a "like" button.

Facebook has in the past battled serious troubles because of privacy concerns in Europe.