The Chair of France's Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL) has issued a notice to Facebook demanding it comply with the French Data Protection Act.
Specifically, the social network was told to fairly collect data concerning the browsing activity of internet users who do not have a Facebook account and provide account holders with the means to object to the compiling of their data for advertising purposes.
A working group, composed of the five data protection authorities (France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Spain and Hamburg) was set up in March 2015 to investigate Facebook’s privacy policy, following the company’s disclosure that it amended its policy on privacy.
CNIL said after onsite and online inspections as well as a documentary audit to determine compliance with the French Data Protection Act, it found that the social network collects data concerning the browsing activity of Internet users who do not have a Facebook account.
The website also set cookies for advertising purposes without properly informing and obtaining the consent of Internet users, as well as collect data concerning the sexual orientation and the religious and political views without the content of account holders.
Meanwhile, the investigations conducted by the Belgian, German (Land of Hamburg), Spanish and Dutch data protection authorities are still ongoing at the national level.