German Antitrust Regulator Opens Investigation Into Facebook

Germany's anti-trust regulator said Wednesday it was investigating Facebook on suspicion that the US social networking giant imposed unfair terms of service on its clients and breached user data protection rules.

BERLIN (Sputnik) — Bundeskartellamt understands that Facebook enjoys a dominant position in the German market for social networks, the anti-monopoly watchdog said in a statement.

By creating user profiles and having clients sign a permit for their data collection, Facebook helps its advertising customers to better target users, Bundeskartellamt said.

"For this reason it is essential to also examine under the aspect of abuse of market power whether the consumers are sufficiently informed about the type and extent of data collected," the agency’s head Andreas Mundt explained.

The investigation has been opened into the US-based Facebook Inc., as well as into its subsidiaries in Germany and Ireland.