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chromas [soylentnews.org] writes:

In a decision that could further embolden European governments to take on large tech platforms, Germany’s top court ruled on Tuesday that Facebook had abused its dominance in social media to illegally harvest data about its users.

[...] The case had been closely watched after German regulators used a novel interpretation [nytimes.com] of competition law to rule against the social media giant last year. The authorities said Facebook broke competition laws by combining data it collected about users across its different platforms, including WhatsApp and Instagram, as well as from outside websites and third-party apps.

In Germany, Facebook now must alter how it processes data about its users. It was ordered to allow people to block the company from combining their Facebook data with information about their activities on other apps and websites.

[...] The decision may not be the last word. A lower court still must issue a ruling on the matter, a process some antitrust attorneys view as a formality given the high court’s strong-worded ruling. In theory, the lower court could rule in Facebook’s favor, setting up another appeal to the federal high court.

[...] Facebook said it would continue to fight and wouldn’t make any immediate changes, arguing that it has months before it must comply. “We will continue to defend our position that there is no antitrust abuse,” Facebook said in a statement.

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