Sign in / up

back to article Top German data cop slaps down Facebook's real name policy

Johannes Caspar, Germany’s Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection, has told Facebook to allow users to use pseudonyms on the free content ad network. In Tuesday's ruling (in German) Caspar said Facebook’s real names policy is against German data protection law and must stop immediately. Facebook’s policy requires users to …

COMMENTS

Post your comment
House rules Send corrections
Add to 'My topics' unstar *
  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Good Sod

    "The dispute will do little to reassure data protection officials in Germany that Ireland’s data protection rules are up to the job of policing the many international internet giants that base their European operations in Dublin."

    Sounds like if Ireland didn't exist, it would have to be invented.

    3 0 Reply
  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    " If you play on our pitch, you play by our rules."

    Or you stop playing, go home, and tell the people of Germany all their Facebooks are suspended because German regulators want to regulate a service operated in Ireland.

    Now that would be funny ....

    1 8 Reply
    1. Martin Summers Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      I think the Facebook users of Germany would understand, it is Facebook in the wrong here and are trying to wriggle out of responsibility in the way organisations like this try to wriggle out of their tax obligations. Who has more to lose? Facebook losing an entire countries worth of users or the people of Germany having to rediscover real life friendship once again?

      11 0 Reply
    2. Field Commander A9
      Reply Icon

      As a Chinese I find your lack of taste of humor disturbing.

      0 0 Reply
  3. Stretch

    Thankfully we have the Germans to fight the yanks for us. Bizarre turn of events.

    15 0 Reply
  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    There is an important reason behind that Real Name thing..

    .. and it is the EXACT reason why you ought to use a fake name in the first place.

    When you sign up to such a service, you engage in a contract. From a right perspective it's fantastically one-sided and contains IMHO some seriously deceptive language, but TL:DR or not, you accept when you join.

    The problem for Google, and Facebook is that a fake name on the contract means they don't have the permission of the actual owner of the media to use their material forever, and that creates a lovely one-sided rights problem, in favour of the end user.

    At best the company can bar or close the account, but it is not able to sanction the user as it has no contract. In reverse, however, the user DOES retain the rights due to normal copyright laws, and so Google and Facebook are at risk if they try to re-use that for other purposes without permission. Oops.

    IANAL, though, but to be honest, I'd love to see that one go to court.

    1 0 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: There is an important reason behind that Real Name thing..

      That would be an argument for you to have to reveal your true identity to Facebook when registering, not to be prohibited from using a pseudonym for your public-facing profile and posts. And even then only for the purpose of forming a contract, not for slurping and sharing your private data and linking it to your real name.

      1 0 Reply
    2. Pascal Monett Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Interesting

      And, in hindsight, obvious.

      Of course this is a copyright issue, should have thought of that. Everything finely tailored to maximize the company's revenue stream.

      I hate Facebook with a passion, but you gotta admit, for a privacy-invading application, it is one fine package. And the cherry on the top is that it is the users who voluntarily part with their own privacy.

      Superbly done.

      1 0 Reply
    3. Graham Marsden
      Reply Icon

      Re: There is an important reason behind that Real Name thing..

      > When you sign up to such a service, you engage in a contract.

      Which AIUI is unenforceable in many places because, for a contract to be binding, *both* parties should have the right to negotiate terms, instead of being told "this is how it is, take it or leave it".

      3 0 Reply
      1. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: There is an important reason behind that Real Name thing..

        Which AIUI is unenforceable in many places because, for a contract to be binding, *both* parties should have the right to negotiate terms, instead of being told "this is how it is, take it or leave it".

        That would only apply if you didn't have the option to say no. However, as you are entirely welcome not to use the service, they can indeed enforce "my way of the highway" style terms, and do so with unwholesome enthusiasm because man + dog is trying to force you onto this platform, even to the point where some companies refer you to their FB page instead of maintaining a decent public website (which means they won't get my business).

        The contractual pitfalls of using FB are why I canned even my very modest use of FB before the 1st of Jan this year, as the simplest way to manage risks is not incurring them in the first place. I read this stuff properly, and so far that effort has been very much worth it.

        0 0 Reply
    4. Lakanal
      Reply Icon

      Re: There is an important reason behind that Real Name thing..

      This is assuredly incorrect. If you consent to the deal and consume Facebook's services, you are bound by the deal. Of course, if you misrepresent your identity to Facebook, they might be able to get out of the deal - but not you.

      1 2 Reply
  5. Lars Silver badge
    Linux

    I have avoided Facebook so far, but I have been thinking of signing up my cat, she has a birth certificate, the long form I think. What does Irish law say about that. No cat icons so lets have a penguin.

    4 0 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      That may be catastrophic (sorry). You end up with the idea of a cat looking at cat pictures. What's next, people looking at pictures of people? That will never work.

      0 0 Reply

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

Forgotten password ?

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon

Other stories you might like