Facebook says to accelerate the changes or to face "sanctions"

Facebook has received a deadline to provide more information on what is done with user data, or sanctions from the European Commission.

Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova said the cabinet did not act quickly enough after being asked to update its terms of service in February.

She said that her "patience" was exhausted and threatened to apply sanctions.

Facebook, due to act before December 31, said it has made some changes and continues to cooperate.

Consumer action

"If we do not see any progress, the sanctions will come," Ms. Jourova said at a press conference. "It's very clear, we can not negotiate forever, we have to see the results."

Facebook and Airbnb were invited in February by the Commission to ensure that their conditions of service complied with European regulations. They have been asked to improve communication with users so that they have a complete knowledge of what is done with the information collected about them.

In addition, the Commission asked Airbnb to inform people about the total price of bookings and surcharges and to ensure that consumers receive sufficient information about guests.

Since the call for improvement was reiterated in July, Airbnb had made the "necessary changes to ensure full transparency," Ms. Jourova said. But this desire to change had not been matched by Facebook.

On the other hand, she said, the social network had made only "very limited progress".

Ms. Jourova was upset by the fact that Facebook has qualified its data and content collection practices to improve users' overall 'experience', but the company has not emphasized the fact that this information were exchanged with third parties.

Ms. Jourova said: "If the changes are not fully implemented by the end of the year, I call on consumer authorities to act quickly and punish the company. "she said.

In response, Facebook stated that it updated its terms of service in May to include the "vast majority" of the changes proposed by the Commission at that time.

"Our conditions are now much clearer on what is and what is banned on Facebook and the options available to people," he said in a statement.

She said she was "grateful" for the continuous feedback from the Commission and added that she "would continue to work closely to understand the new concerns and make the appropriate updates."