Belgium's data watchdog has issued new recommendations to Facebook, calling on the company to explain more clearly its practice of collecting internet user data through website elements with invisible tracking pixels.
The country is reportedly following the line of France and the European Commission in taking various actions against Facebook, aimed at fines, for privacy violations.
A tracking pixel is neither a visible icon nor a cookie. It comes in the form of a line of code that is loaded in the background of a website when users visit the social network with their browser of choice. The code creates a tiny image the size of a pixel, the smallest visual element on a digital screen that is almost invisible to the human eye.
Facebook has long allowed its advertisers to create targeted marketing by using invisible tracking pixels to measure the number of Facebook users who see their ads on the social network, track sales conversions and obtain browsing history.
Once the pixel is loaded in a browser, it can send the user's IP address and web activity to the server of the page containing the ad. In addition to Facebook, tracking pixels are commonly used in web analytics to implement targeted advertising.
The Belgian regulator has expressed concern that Facebook is receiving too much personal data for targeted advertising, saying it is excessively tracking internet users without providing them with sufficient controls in the form of consent.
The Dutch regulator announced earlier that Facebook had violated Dutch privacy law for the same reasons. However, instead of imposing a fine, it worked with Facebook to take some corrective measures. The specific measures appear to have been implemented by the social network but do not address all of the regulator's concerns.
France's data regulator had fined Facebook 150,000 euros for violating data protection rules, and chose not to work with Facebook to implement any changes.
Europe's dispute with Facebook doesn't seem to stop there. The European Commission also imposed a €110 million fine for misleading practices in how the company combines WhatsApp users' data with Facebook accounts to create targeted ads.
Belgium has not yet fined Facebook. The Belgian regulator will examine the legality of all of Facebook's data tracking mechanisms before allowing a hearing from Facebook's legal department later this year.
