Researchers claim that Facebook tracks users' computers, even without their consent, even if they are not logged into their account or have opted out, in violation of European law. The issue concerns the use of its social plugins, such as the popular Like button, which is placed on more than 13 million sites.
The Guardian publishes a report by researchers from the Center of Interdisciplinary Law and ICT (ICRI) and the Computer Security and Industrial Cryptography department (Cosic) of the University of Leuven, as well as the department of media, information and telecommunications of the Vrije Universitiet in Brussels, which makes revelations regarding violations of European legislation by Facebook in the "sensitive" area of personal data protection.
Facebook in to view them. When a user visits a third-party site that incorporates one of the social networking site's social plug-ins, it detects the visit and sends tracking cookies back to the social network. The tracking occurs even if the user does not interact with the Like button, Login or other extension of the site.
This is in contrast to European law, which explicitly states that prior consent must be given before issuing a cookie or tracking a user. The same law requires websites to inform users of their first visit to a site that uses cookies, asking for their consent.
What is Facebook 's opinion on the publication? The social network notes that it contains inaccuracies and that its authors did not contact them to obtain clarification before making their conclusions public.
And while just yesterday we read the European Commission's opinion that users should even "close" their accounts on the social network in question if they don't want US security services to spy on them, it seems that concerns about our privacy on the Internet are still valid and will concern us for quite some time to come..
Source: digitallife.gr
