• Facebook will be more informative about the rules according to which it provides services to consumers.
• This is an example of one of the conditions negotiated by the European Commission and the Member States.
• UOKiK participated in the negotiations and gave its comments.

The European Commission and EU Member States have negotiated a change to the terms of providing services by Facebook, an on-line social media and social networking service company. There was doubt about the lack of clear information about how Facebook uses personal data of its users, and the rules concerning the company’s liability. Today, the European Commission has announced the effect of the negotiation. The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection actively participated in the discussion. It was not easy. We made some comments. As a result, the terms and conditions of the provision of services will be more transparent and understandable. In our opinion, this is a good step because Facebook has promised to change most of the clauses analysed by UOKiK. We will monitor whether it will actually happen, but it does not dispel all doubts, says Marek Niechciał, the President of UOKiK.

What will change?

Facebook is to explain in its terms and conditions of the provision of service that social media is free, but comes with a price, namely huge amount of your personal information being traded away to create personalized, targeted advertisements. The users will also be able to report their opposition to Facebook when the content they have posted is removed by Facebook and requested it to be re-evaluated. Details can be found on the EC website. The company must introduce changes by the end of June 2019.

UOKiK appeal

UOKiK and other consumer protection authorities have recently issued an appeal to Apple and Google asking them to transparently inform customers how their data are obtained and used. We download applications from these stores, but it is difficult to find information about how these companies will use our data. The problem is that applications downloaded for phones often require access to various data, such as a phone book, a camera, a precise location. Before you download an application, think twice whether you really want it to know so much about you and whether you actually need it, says Marek Niechciał. Read UOKiK appeal on the website, namely the letter to Apple and the letter to Google.

Additional information for the media:

UOKiK Press Office
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa, Poland
Phone +48 695 902 088, +48 22 55 60 314
E-mail: [SCODE]Yml1cm9wcmFzb3dlQHVva2lrLmdvdi5wbA==[ECODE]
Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL