ZDNet reports on an ongoing case involving Facebook’s use of cookies in Belgium, which illustrates the way in which the informed-consent rule is open to interpretation among European regulators. In November, a Belgian court ordered Facebook to stop tracking users via social plugins on third-party sites, the report states. The site uses a hidden cookie called “datr,” which gets downloaded by Facebook users and non-users alike once they visit the site. A Belgian judge said tracking non-users is excessive and ruled Facebook has to pay 250,000 euros every day it continues the practice. But Facebook is appealing the judge’s decision and continues to use the datr cookie in other European countries.
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