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Germany’s
Top Court has ruled that Facebook’s Friend Finder feature is illegal.
According to the Press release, The Federal Court of Justice upheld the
concurrent findings of the courts below which had held that this feature
constitutes advertising harassment.
In
2010, Federation of German Consumer Organizations had complained that Facebook
breached German consumer protection law by sending e-mails to consumers without
their consent. The court allowed their complain which was also upheld in
appeal.
On
Appeal to Top Court, it held that Facebook is obliged to disable the function
in Germany. The function is an intrusive form of marketing on behalf of
Facebook using data imported by the user, rather than a private message from
the user to one of his email contacts, the court said.
Facebook’s
Friend finder feature allows Facebook users to give permission to search their
contact in their mailbox and allows it to send invites to join Facebook, to
their friends who are not in Facebook.
Klaus
Müller, Chairman of the Federation of German Consumer Organizations, in a press
release said “Our perseverance pays off. After six years of proceedings on
all instances confirmed by the German Supreme Court ruled that Facebook may not
use personal information without consent for promotional purposes. The
disclosure of personal data of friends, colleagues or business partners on the
Facebook Friend Finder is tricky”
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