Germany to restrict Facebook's data gathering activities

Germany has ordered Facebook to curb its data collection practices in the country, after a ruling that the world's largest social media network abused its market dominance to gather information about users without their knowledge or consent. "In future, Facebook will no longer be allowed to force its users to agree to the practically unrestricted collection and assigning of non-Facebook data to their Facebook accounts," Federal Cartel Office chief Andreas Mundt said in the landmark order on Thursday. Facebook said it would appeal the ruling, the culmination of a three-year probe, saying the antitrust watchdog underestimated the competition it faced and undermined Europe-wide privacy rules that took effect last year. The findings follow fierce global scrutiny of Facebook over a series of privacy lapses, including the leak of data on tens of millions of users, as well as the extensive use of targeted ads by foreign powers seeking to influence elections in the United States. These have gone down badly with Germans, reflecting broader concerns over personal surveillance that dates back to Germany's history of Nazi and Communist rule in the 20th century.