Late last year we reported that Facebook was involved in a legal battle in Germany over the social network’s policy on members using their real name when signing up for an account. Germany, which is known for their strict privacy laws, wanted Facebook to change this policy and allow German users to sign up with fake names in order to comply with the country’s data protection laws. While Germany has often had good luck with similar cases against American online companies, this past Friday Facebook walked away from the case victorious.
What led to Facebook’s win was that the company’s European headquarters are in Ireland, which has much looser privacy laws than those found in Germany. However, the privacy watchdog group that took up the case against Facebook has already announced their plans to appeal the decision.
Source: Associated Press
