Facebook has criticized a report that said its privacy could be in breach of European laws. The report was produced by academics instructed by the Belgian privacy commission. It claimed that the service tracks people without their consent, with a new annex including details about the company’s tracking.
The company argues that the report is “inaccurate” and has complained that it was not consulted before it was published. A spokesperson for Facebook said: “This report contains factual inaccuracies…the authors have never contacted us, nor sought to clarify any assumptions upon which their report is based. Neither did they invite our comment on the report before making it public.”
The separate paper included information about plug-ins used by Facebook for tracking purposes. The company updated its privacy policy in January but said that the changes weren’t drastic. They instead claimed that the policy was only updated to offer more detailed information about their practices and clear up confusion. The report said that the company was placing “too much burden” on members, describing the service’s privacy setting as a “complicated web”.
Facebook recently announced plans to open up its Messenger service to third-parties, allowing them to add their own functions.