back to article EC fines Facebook €110m for 'misleading' data on WhatsApp deal

The European Commission has fined Facebook €110m (£94.4m) for giving misleading or incorrect information about its takeover of messaging giant WhatsApp. There were two separate offences – one when Facebook first notified the European Commission that it wanted to buy WhatsApp and a second when it responded to an EC request for …

  1. Mage Silver badge
    Devil

    'Errors' in 2014 filings 'not intentional', apparently

    I've a bridge for sale.

    Facebook entirely make their income from mostly illegal (in EU and other related countries) exploitation of private data. Do not post and tag / label / identify photos of anyone other than yourself without permission. Do not post what your friends and relatives are doing. Give them no extra information. Ideally don't use it at all, share via email, or if public, use a blog. Facebook provides nothing of value to users that can't be done better elsewhere, free.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "Facebook make their income from mostly illegal exploitation of private data."

      Yep it was always a bunch of lies. The problem is, its the weakest links in your life that post everything on Facebucks and force tag everyone they know. Its essentially data mugging! But the same low hanging fruit refuse to stop... You can close your account which I've done but that's it. They keep posting anyway!

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    EU Competition Commissioner said:

    .....'Today's decision sends a clear signal to companies that they must comply with all aspects of EU merger rules, including the obligation to provide correct information'....

    - Eh, no!!! Anything but a huge personal fine levied solely on psychp@th Zuk will have no effect except to actually reinforce big tech's belief that what they're doing is just good business.

    - It will simply encourage these f*cks to data-rape even more! Uber gets banned from countries for pulling this sh1t, what are we doing in the 1st world, just reinforcing their self-belief that 'its OK'!

    1. 78910

      Re: EU Competition Commissioner said:

      I agree. Their $19 Billion dollar purchase just became a $19.1 Billion dollar purchase. Not exactly much of a punishment, just a cost of doing business that was probably already budgeted for.

      1. Pseu Donyme

        Re: EU Competition Commissioner said:

        Indeed. 110 M € in this context is too small by two to three orders of magnitude. In general, I suppose fines to companies should be such that getting several within a few years would result in bankruptcy. If they are meant to have an effect, that is.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    We shouldn't have found ourselves in this position.

    The Village Idiot knew Facebook was lying! Blocking the takeover was the safest bet. What today says more clearly than anything is: Politicians and Data Regulators everywhere were and still are utterly naive / totally corrupt...

    1. JimC

      The Village Idiot knew Facebook was lying!

      For sure, but proving it against a thoroughly lawyered up US corporation is a tad more difficult.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    ...The errors we made in our 2014 filings were not intentional ....

    Surely they had lawyers that crawling all over the filings - shouldn't they have spotted any errors? Methinks that their response may also have errors....

  5. Hans Neeson-Bumpsadese Silver badge

    WhatsApp had failed to get proper consent from users to hand over their data to Facebook.

    But if they had asked, users probably would have clicked on "OK" anyway - by having a FarceBook account they've already demonstrated that they're not that concerned about privacy in the first place.

    1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      "they're not that concerned about privacy in the first place."

      Or even worse - that they're not aware.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Tsk tsk Facebook. Surely you could have found some weasel words that were accurate?

    -At this time- the capability does not exist. We -have no plans- to do such matching. etc etc

  7. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    So let me get this straight...

    ...one of the largest users of "Big data", whose entire existence relies on knowing as much information as possible about not only its users, but also it's financial supporters (advertisers) and internal technology, went in blind to a purchase, not knowing if something fundamental to it's business model was technologically possible.

    Bullshit.

  8. Khaptain Silver badge

    Stop feeding the Data Troll ( El Zuk)

    Here is a photo of something completely without interest, that I saw being posted by someone to which I have absolutely no connection and that I probably don't even "like". It is a lovely cat/dog/train/coffe cup though...

    Who in their right mind would ever have believed that that would become a monster of a business model. ( OK it's the data mining/publicity behind it that makes money but this is after all the input)

    That pittance of a fine will do nothing but give El Zuck even more publicity making his balls swell up even further.... Good on the lad for making his billions but what a sad state of affairs the "public" have become....

  9. Grunchy Silver badge

    Where's the beef?

    What makes any of this worth anything?

    I guess it's because Facebook can exploit that data to compel a certain portion of the population to buy something or other, for which Facebook demands a commission.

    (Sorry, I remember there was some question from the 'social network' movie which was: what exactly is the value of Facebook, what is it that makes it a business - and I guess ultimately this is what it is? I'm actually not sure.)

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