Imagine if Facebook – or any popular social media platform for that matter – blocked people from using nicknames or pseudonyms?
A woman in Germany complained to a privacy watchdog about Facebook blocking her account for just that, and the regulator ordered the Silicon Valley tech giant to allow the use of nicknames, Reuters is reporting.
According to Reuters, the woman complained to the Hamburg data protection authority, which polices Facebook in Germany, for blocking her account after she used a pseudonym. She claims Facebook even requested a copy of her ID and changed her username to her actual government name without her permission. The woman didn't want to use her real name in order to avoid being solicited for business matters through the social media network.
Well, after lodging the complaint, the data protection authority ruled that Facebook can't unilaterally change usernames to real names or demand to see an official ID – deeming both violations of privacy – and thus ordered the tech conglomerate to allow pseudonyms.
The decision only marks the latest setback for Facebook in Europe, where a Belgian privacy watchdog took the website to court just last month over the manner in which it tracks user activities. In fact, Reuters is reporting that the Belgian privacy watchdog and the Hamburg data protection authority are collaborating with their Spanish, Dutch and French counterparts to thoroughly investigate Facebook's new privacy policy.
Facebook claims the use of real names protects users' privacy because it validates who's who.
"The use of authentic names on Facebook protects people's privacy and safety by ensuring people know who they're sharing and connecting with," a Facebook spokesperson told Reuters.
Seems like there's more of this to come between European privacy watchdogs and Facebook.
