Germany — In a startling setback to the social network giant’s Friend Finder service, Facebook Inc., on Tuesday lost a ruling in Germany for the way it uses members’ email addresses to solicit new users, in an ongoing battle between the Menlo Park, Calif.-based social media outfit and European privacy groups.
A Berlin regional court said on its website that it has discovered some of Facebook’s terms of service are invalid, particularly it does not adequately inform members that all e-mail addresses imported by its “Friend Finder” service will be utilized to contact others, even if they are not members of its network.
German federal consumer organization Verbraucherzentrale Bundesver (VZBV), which won the claim against Facebook’s Friend Finder service, said on its website today, though it did not provide specifics and could not be reached for comment.
The judges condemned the company saying users are “lured” into disclosing those addresses, it said.
The State Court in Berlin backed VZBV’s complaint, which says the Friend Finder service enticed Facebook members to import the names and e-mail addresses of friends who are not Facebook members. The court also stated that Facebook has to inform its users clearly that it is importing their entire address book via Friend Finder and uses it for invitations, according to the consumer group. VZBV chairman Gerd Billen said “the ruling is a milestone” for forcing Menlo Park and others to “respect data-protection rules in Europe.”
Facebook says it will examine the court’s decision and react accordingly.
“We will take a close look into the details of today’s court decision as soon as they are available and then determine the next steps,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement. “Facebook Ireland Ltd, which provides our service to people in Germany, is committed to abiding by European data protection principles as demonstrated by the recent report of the Office of the Irish Data Protection Commissioner.” For that report, see Facebook promises changes following Irish privacy audit.
The social media giant Facebook last year endorsed a deal with a German regulator reviewing the friend-finder function. Under that agreement with the City of Hamburg’s data-protection agency, Facebook must inform non-members by e-mail explaining why their addresses are used and how they can be kept private.
Following the agreement, the company embarked on making changes to its disclosure terms for Friend Finder in early 2011, in part due to growing concerns from European countries over its privacy policies. The Irish Data Protection Commission began an audit into privacy issues stemming from Facebook that resulted in a December 2011 report calling on the social network to make a series of improvements to its privacy settings.
Besides, Facebook would not obtain a copy of the court’s unmitigated ruling for three days. It is unclear if the ruling refers to Facebook’s terms for Friend Finder as they were in 2010 when the complaint was filed, or as they currently stand.
However, the German consumer group, stated that although Facebook has made slight modifications, they are not adequate, according to a statement on its website.
The court also ruled that Facebook cannot compel users to grant the social network a comprehensive license to their content. The court held that users remain the owners of intellectual-property rights of their Facebook posts, pictures and other content posted on the site, according to Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband, a government-backed consumer advocacy group that filed an October 2010 complaint that prompted the ruling.
Finally Verbraucherzentrale, which does not have the legal permission to fine or stop Facebook, alleged in its lawsuit that the social network did not adequately explain to users the workings of a feature called “Friend Finder.”