Facebook gains temporary Halt to EU Antitrust Data Demands

FB has won the first round of its Court battle against what it says are excessive demands from European Union antitrust regulators after Europe's second-top court temporarily halted such requests until it makes a final ruling.

Facebook is being investigated by the European Commission for its trove of data & online marketplace, which may lead to hefty fines & orders to change its business practices.

On July 15, FB sued the EU competition enforcer at the Luxembourg-based General Court, saying that the Commission was seeking information beyond what is necessary, including highly personal details.

The US social Media Group also asked for interim measures to stop a May 4 information request. Failure to comply could expose it to a daily penalty payment of EUR 8 million (roughly Rs. 70 crores).

The Court in a judgment dated July 24 suspended the EU request while waiting for the Commission's comment & its ruling on FB's appeal for interim relief.

It said such a move would "prevent a situation whereby the contested material is disclosed in violation of the fundamental right to privacy of the applicant's management & employees, depriving of any effect any order for interim measures that may eventually be granted".

EU regulators are trawling documents looking for about 2,500 search phrases which include "big question", "shut down" & "not good for us", & which could be found in employees' health information or even job applications, said a person familiar with the matter.

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