In other bad news for Facebook, the data privacy regulator in France has given Facebook 3 months to stop tracking users who are not members of the social network and stop transferring users' personal data to the US.
The tracking order relates to a Facebook cookie that tracks the activities of anyone who visits the website, regardless of whether the person is logged in to the social network or not. The cookie gathers information such as which pages the user visits and how long they stay on each page.
The data transfer order relates to the Safe Harbour principle, which governs data transfers between the European Union and the US and was declared “invalid” by the European Court of Justice last year. Safe Harbour states that US companies receiving data from the EU can self-certify themselves as having data protection safeguards in place.
If Facebook does not comply with the orders within 3 months it will be fined, although the French regulators have not yet said how large this fine will be.Â
