Facebook may ask you for permission to use your WhatsApp and Instagram data

We provide our data with such normality that almost nothing surprises us anymore. When Facebook bought WhatsApp, many of us imagined – and feared – that our personal data would be passed around without measure.

However, it seems that from now on, Facebook will have a little more difficult when it comes to collecting user data. And it is that the German Federal Antimonopoly Office has announced that it prohibits Facebook from collecting data through third partiesThe fact is absolutely transcendent, because by this decision, the social network will not even be able to collect the data generated through the Likes if it does not have the consent of the users.

Facebook is accused of abuse of dominant position

The German authorities have taken this decision because they consider that Facebook is carrying out what is called "abuse of a dominant position" So, after Having made the decision, Mark Zuckerberg's social network will be prohibited from collecting all the data it has been amassing up to now.

The most important thing about all this is that this jurisprudence can set a precedent in Europe, which will serve to protect the data of many more users. Hence, Facebook has issued a statement in which it explains that it plans to appeal this decision of the competition authorities before the Justice.

For now, however, the only thing Facebook can do is put an end to its practices of collecting data from third parties. The German authorities consider that it will no longer be possible to collect data from third parties. And this includes applications such as Instagram or WhatsApp, which are part of the giant's conglomerate of companies. A first gesture will be to present solutions in this regard. But they will have to do it within a maximum period of four months.

The German authorities consider it abusive that in order to use Facebook, users have to accept in an inalienable way a practice as serious as the collection of personal data.

These are bad times for Facebook

Facebook plans to file an appeal, but has a month's deadline.It will do so before the Düsseldorf Regional Court Those responsible for the social network consider that it is popular, but not as much as having a dominant position in the German market. In addition, it is justified by ensuring that it does not violate European data protection laws in any case.

To try to solve this problem, Facebook has recently tried to establish contact with the nation's government Their goal was to to show their availability and willingness to avoid fake news during the European elections. But unfortunately, this has not helped them much.

As if this were not enough, last week Chancellor Angela Merkel herself closed her Facebook account. An account that had nothing more and nothing less than 2.5 million followers. And although everyone thinks that this largely has to do with the bad relations between Facebook and the government in Berlin, Merkel justified herself by saying that she is leaving Facebook because She is no longer the leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDI) party.He has indicated, however, that his activity can also be followed through his Instagram profile.