Competition authorities in the United Kingdom and Europe are looking into Facebook's use of advertising data to obtain an unfair edge over competitors.
The Competition and Markets Authority is investigating whether it exploits data for its own purposes, such as Facebook Marketplace. The European Commission is investigating whether Facebook broke EU regulations by collecting data from advertisers in order to compete with them in providing classified advertisements.
Facebook stated that it will fully cooperate and show that both the UK and EU inquiries are "without merit."
Facebook obtains data through its digital advertising service and its single sign-on option, according to the CMA. This allows consumers to use their Facebook login credentials to sign in to other websites, services, and apps.
The watchdog is investigating whether Facebook has been improperly using data to compete with other businesses through Facebook Marketplace, which allows businesses and users to post classified ads to sell products, as well as Facebook Dating, which was launched in Europe last year.
The European Commission has launched a formal antitrust investigation "to assess whether Facebook violated EU competition rules by using advertising data gathered in particular from advertisers in order to compete with them in markets where Facebook is active, such as classified ads."
"The formal investigation will also assess whether Facebook, in breach of EU competition rules, ties its online classified advertisements service "Facebook Marketplace" to its social network," it stated.
Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s antitrust chief stated, “In today’s digital economy, data should not be used in ways that distort competition.”
Facebook said its "Marketplace and dating offer people mor ..
Support the originator by clicking the read the rest link below.
