Facebook Stops Sex-Targeted Ads in EU-Wide Privacy Clampdown
- Dutch say Facebook ceases use of sexual preferences for ads
- French watchdog levies 150,000 euro-fine for privacy breaches
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Facebook Inc. agreed under Dutch pressure to stop targeting ads based on users’ sexual orientation as European regulators revealed a concerted clampdown on some of the social network’s data practices.
The Dutch privacy authority said on Tuesday that Facebook has now put an end to methods that breached national law. France’s data regulator, CNIL, ordered the company to pay a maximum privacy fine of 150,000 euros ($166,000) for combining user data to display targeted advertising and "illegal tracking" via cookies of what users do on and off the site.