Facebook probed by UK and EU watchdogs over data breach

Facebook is being investigated by UK and European competition watchdogs over concerns it uses advertising data to gain an unfair advantage over rivals. The European Commission is examining if Facebook violated EU rules by gathering data from advertisers to compete with them in providing classified ads. The watchdog said it is examining whether the company has unfairly used the data to compete with people and businesses who use Facebook Marketplace, where firms and users put up classified adverts to sell items, as well as Facebook Dating which was launched in Europe last year. The European Commission said it had opened a formal antitrust investigation "To assess whether Facebook violated EU competition rules by using advertising data gathered in particular from advertisers in order to compete with them in markets where Facebook is active such as classified ads". "Andrea Coscelli, chief executive of the CMA, added:"We intend to thoroughly investigate Facebook's use of data to assess whether its business practices are giving it an unfair advantage in the online dating and classified ad sectors.

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