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Facebook inundated with requests for data from the government

Last updated: 08:56 19 Dec 2017 EST, First published: 03:56 19 Dec 2017 EST

Snooping on browsing habits
The US government made 32,716 requests for data from Facebook

Big Brother is watching you more closely than ever, especially if you spend time on Facebook.

The social media giant said the US government made 32,716 requests for data from Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) in the first half of this year, up 26% on the second half of last year.

READ: Facebook hits back at former exec’s claims that it is “destroying how society works”

The US government is not the only one taking a keen interest in its citizens’ browsing habits; Facebook said requests for account data worldwide were up 21% to 78,890 compared to 64,279 in the preceding six month period.

According to a post on Facebook’s blog, the number of content restrictions relating to violations of local law quadrupled to 28,036 from 6,944 in the second half of last year.

If Facebook is cheesed off with having to answer government requests for data, Germany’s Federal Cartel Office has a bee in its bonnet about the way Facebook harvests data on its customer base, which the German watchdog considers to be an abuse of its position as the dominant operator in the social media market.

READ: Facebook beats expectations; pledges to up spending to prevent recurrence of election meddling

The office has been doing a bit of digging and says it has found evidence of Facebook using its dominant market position to bully users in Germany into allowing it to collect data about them from third-party sources, such as when the user clicks on a “like” button.

Facebook has more than 90% market share in Germany and as such can offer a “put up or shove off” terms of service agreement.

Shares in Facebook were barely changed in pre-market trading.

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