Facebook Is Collecting User Data Through The 'Like' Button On Websites

Though the Like button on Facebook appears simple, there is more about the upturned thumb that you see. For example, several companies use this button as a plugin on their websites. On Monday, the top court of Europe decided that these firms have joint responsibility with the social giant for the transfer of user data.

The court looked into Fashion ID, an online clothing retailer based in Germany, which used the Like button as a plugin on its site. The court found that the website’s visitors’ data was transferred back to Facebook without them knowing, even when they didn’t join the platform or hadn’t clicked ‘Like.’

The Court of Justice of the European Union published a judgment saying that Fashion ID as well as other similar websites can’t take responsibility for the use of people’s data after it’s transferred to Facebook, but they’re responsible for “operations involving the collection and disclosure by transmission to Facebook.”

This means, in the future, websites that transfer European citizens’ data to Facebook as well as other social platforms, via whichever plugin, has to get their explicit consent so as to comply with strict data protection rules introduced in Europe in 2018. As in the General Data Protection Regulation, for data collection to happen, people must provide explicit permission.

Companies are still learning to fully comply with GDPR, and decisions like the one mentioned above help clarify companies’ roles. With this decision, social platforms, like Facebook, will have a better understanding of which user data gathering and processing they have sole responsibility for and which third parties have joint responsibility. Associate general counsel Jack Gilbert of the social giant said in a statement: