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Facebook in EU antitrust crosshairs over data collection

The EU executive said it had sent out questionnaires as part of preliminary investigations into both Facebook and Googles data.

The move underlines regulators concerns regarding the massive amount of data held by tech giants and how they may leverage this to block competitors and expand into new sectors.

These investigations concern the way data is gathered, processed, used and monetized including for advertising purposes, the EU competition enforcer said, without providing details.

A questionnaire seen by Reuters showed the Commission zooming in on Facebooks application programming interface that allows app developers to access data or functionalities on its platform and its photo-sharing site Instagram and software components to interact.

Regulators wanted to know details of the contracts allowing companies access to Facebooks APIs and the impact on companies if they were not allowed to use such data.

The questionnaire asked whether there were any restrictions or conditions on Facebooks use of data provided by the companies in return for access to its APIs, and if Facebook curbs access and the reason for it.

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Author: Foo Yun Chee

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Foo Yun Chee has recently written 11 articles on similar topics including :
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  3. "A group of 165 companies and industry bodies have called on EU antitrust enforcers to take a tougher line against Google, saying the U.S. tech giant unfairly favours its own services on its web searches". (November 12, 2020)
  4. "Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai has apologised to Europe's industry chief Thierry Breton over a leaked internal document proposing tactics to counter the EU's tough new rules on internet companies and lobby against the EU commissioner". (November 13, 2020)
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  7. "Facebook is suing EU antitrust regulators for seeking information beyond what is necessary, including highly personal details, for their investigations into the company's data and marketplace, the U.S. social media group said on Monday". (July 27, 2020)
  8. "Google's bid to win EU approval for its $2.1 billion purchase of Fitbit faces headwinds as rivals and customers argue concessions to EU antitrust regulators do not go far enough, two people familiar with the matter said on Friday". (October 2, 2020)
  9. "EU antitrust enforcers are asking interested parties whether Google's pledge not to use fitness tracker maker Fitbit's health data for its advertising, and to separate the dataset from its own, might ease concerns over their tie up". (July 15, 2020)
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