Facebook risks EU-wide privacy fights after setback at top court

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Facebook Inc. could be in the firing line of data privacy regulators across the European Union if the bloc’s top court follows the opinion of an adviser who said the social media giant may be policed by authorities in the country where users are based.
Yves Bot, an advocate general of the EU Court of Justice, said that national watchdogs spread across the 28-nation bloc could in some cases have power to take direct action against Facebook when they suspect illegal data processing has taken place—even though its EU base is in Ireland.
The case, which concerns a German dispute over a “fan page” set up on Facebook by a local user, could end up having wide effects and refute the US company’s long-held view that the Irish privacy regulator is the only watchdog with a say over its data processing in Europe.
The German case is one of many clashes between the Menlo Park, California-based company and national authorities. Belgium’s privacy regulator told a court this month that the company was engaged in “unprecedented in monitoring the browsing habits” of millions of people.
Facebook said in a statement that “we respectfully disagree with the Advocate General and await the European Court’s decision.”
The Luxembourg-based court’s ruling, which usually comes 4 to
6 months after an opinion, would be binding and become law across the EU.
A new EU privacy law that will take effect in May 2018 will give national regulators the power to fine companies as much as 4 percent of their global annual sales for violations. It will also put some regulators in charge of companies having a base in their territory.

UK asks Facebook for detail on Brexit-related Russian ads
Bloomberg

The head of a UK Parliamentary panel probing fake news has asked Facebook Inc. to hand over information about Russian-linked advertising that might have sought to affect the outcome of Brexit referendum. Damian Collins, a Conservative Party MP, wrote Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive officer, “politely requesting” the information on Oct. 19, according to a letter Collins’s office made public on Tuesday.
The move comes as Facebook faces multiple investigations in the US over advertising and accounts linked to the Russian government that sought to influence the outcome of the 2016 US presidential election. Now Parliament wants to know if Russia also used Facebook to try to affect the outcome of the Brexit vote.
“We have received a letter from the Digital, Culture, Media and Sports Committee and will respond once we have had the opportunity to review the request,” a Facebook spokeswoman said. Collins is chair of the House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, which is conducting an inquiry into fake news. “Part of this inquiry will focus on the role of foreign actors abusing platforms such as yours to interfere in the political discourse of other nations,” Collins wrote to Zuckerberg.