In a very promising development, a Belgian court has ruled that Facebook may no longer collect information about non-users. According to The New York Times, the court ruled that Facebook may no longer collect and store digital information from Belgians who do not have a Facebook account due to a lack of consent.
Facebook will appeal the ruling because it wants the right to track everyone on the Internet for monetary purposes. However, if Facebook loses and fails to abide by the court's decision it may be fined up to $270,000 per day.
I do not trust Facebook with my personal information. Even though I have a personal Facebook account, my profile photo shows my "favorite social media titan," and I have intentionally included incorrect personal information about myself. I do not utilize the platform to share my personal thoughts or activities because the data is sent to data brokers. Furthermore, Facebook is not transparent regarding how personal user information is utilized by its business partners.
Its too early to speculate on whether Facebook will ultimately win the case; however, my hope is that other countries around the world including the U.S. require Facebook, Google, etc... to become more transparent about their data collection and utilization practices. Those who do not use Facebook have an expectation that it will not destroy non-users' privacy. We may soon find out if the Belgian judiciary agrees.
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