Facebook ordered to pay 30,000 euros in France over 'abusive' usage terms

430 clauses in Facebook's user agreement includes keeping and selling data indefinitely, says petitioner

PARIS: A French court has ordered Facebook to pay 30,000 euros ($34,000) over "abusive" terms-of-use agreements that people had to accept in order to access their social media accounts, the consumer group which filed the lawsuit said on Wednesday.

The ruling came as France's consumer protection agency said it and the European Commission had secured Facebook's agreement to "significantly modify its terms of use" by the end of June.

They will include "clear language" spelling out that Facebook makes money by allowing targeted advertising based on the contents of a user's profile, the DGCCRF agency said.

[#Facebook]
La #DGCCRF et la @UEFrance ont obtenu que Facebook modifie profondément ses conditions d’utilisation afin de rendre plus transparente son utilisation des données des utilisateurs européens à des fins commerciales.https://t.co/h9taUvHAF4 pic.twitter.com/WmBQA6qBJZ

— DGCCRF (@dgccrf) April 10, 2019

The UFC-Que Choisir consumer group filed its case in 2014, saying 430 clauses in Facebook's user agreement were abusive, including keeping and selling data indefinitely, even after an account is closed, and changing the terms of use without informing people.

A Facebook spokesperson said the case involved terms of use that have since been modified.

"Guaranteeing the transparency of our tools and services, and providing clear information to our users, is essential for Facebook," he said.

The ruling follows similar 30,000 euro fines against Google announced last month, and Twitter in August. Both were lodged by UFC-Que Choisir.