Tension between EU authorities and U.S. tech giants likely to escalate
PARIS—Facebook Inc. is confronting a wave of probes in Europe into its privacy practices, escalating tensions between European authorities and a handful of U.S-based tech giants.
Government privacy watchdogs from France, Spain and Italy have in recent weeks joined a group of regulators investigating the social-networking firm’s privacy controls, officials said, doubling the number of European countries analyzing the way Facebook handles the personal information and connections gleaned from more than 300 million users in Europe.
The three regulators join a Dutch-led effort, accompanied by authorities in Germany and Belgium, that is examining the way Facebook combines data from its services, such as Instagram and WhatsApp, to target advertising. Also under investigation is Facebook’s use of its “like” buttons that could track Internet browsing habits, regulators say.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
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