If you put a “Like” button on your site, are you breaking the law?

It’s hard to imagine that the “Like” button may be outlawed or that the sites hosting it will have to receive written consent from visitors. It seems unrealistic that when you click the “Like” button, a “security risk” message will pop up. But it may be a reality.

The German court made a decision on March 9, 2016 that the Like button from Facebook on the website may violate the requirements for the protection of personal data. It states that sites that host the “Like” button from Facebook should lucidly notify users that their data will be transferred to the social network if they click this button. Placing a policy regarding personal data in the basement of the site is not enough.

The lawsuit was filed by the Consumer Protection Association. She stated in court that personal data from the site is transmitted to Facebook before the site visitor clicked the “Like” button.
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In order to avoid violations, the following conditions must be met: (1) the user must be aware of the purpose of using his Facebook data, (2) the user must give his consent to the transfer of his Facebook data, in particular his IP address, (3) the user must know about his right to withdraw consent at any time.

The court decision can be applied by analogy to other buttons of social networks LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+. Facebook representatives said that the decision concerns a specific case and will not affect the rules for placing the Like button on websites.

Experts note that the German regulation of personal data is one of the toughest in Europe. The question of whether such a decision can be made by a Russian court is controversial. On the one hand, it is not clear whether the IP address belongs to personal data - there are different opinions on this subject. On the other hand, the cross-border transmission of personal data in the United States requires the written consent of the user, which in most cases no one receives.