FILE PHOTO: Silhouettes of mobile users are seen next to a screen projection of Facebook logo in this picture illustration taken March 28, 2018. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany’s antitrust watchdog plans to order Facebook to stop gathering some user data, a newspaper reported on Sunday. The Federal Cartel Office, which has been investigating Facebook since 2015, has already found that the social media giant abused its market dominance to gather data on people without their knowledge or consent. The Bild am Sonntag newspaper said the watchdog will present the U.S. company with its ruling on what action it needs to take in the next few weeks. A Facebook spokeswoman said the company disputes the watchdog’s findings and will continue to defend this position. The investigation is being closely watched amid mounting concerns over leaks of data on tens of millions of Facebook users, as well as the use of social media by foreign powers seeking to influence elections in the United States. The German watchdog objects in particular to how Facebook acquires data on people from third-party apps - including its own WhatsApp and Instagram services as well as games and websites - and its tracking of people who are not members. The paper said it is still not clear how strictly Facebook will have to comply with the German order, noting that the watchdog looks likely to set a deadline for compliance rather than insisting on immediate action. Reporting by Rene Wagner; Writing by Emma Thomasson; Editing by David Goodman
Germany's Bild am Sonntag is to present Facebook with a ruling in the coming weeks about its acquisition of user data via third-party apps, according to a report in the Federal Cartel Office newspaper. It said the ruling, which is expected to ask for compliance by a deadline rather than immediate action, is likely to affect WhatsApp and Instagram services, as well as the tracking of non-Facebook members. The watchdog has been investigating the social media site since 2015. A Facebook spokeswoman said the company disputed the findings.