Belgian court orders Facebook to stop tracking users within 48 hours

A Belgian court today gave Facebook 48 hours to stop tracking Internet users who do not have accounts with the US social media giant, or risk fines of up to 250,000 euros (US $269,000) a day, a statement said.

The order follows a case lodged by Belgium's privacy watchdog in June which said Facebook indiscriminately tracks Internet users when they visit pages on the site, even if they are not members, the court said. The same applies if non-members click "like" or "share" on a Facebook page, which leaves a "cookie" or Internet record on the computer despite them not being signed up to the site, the court said.

"Today the judge... ordered the social network Facebook to stop tracking and registering Internet usage by people who surf the Internet in Belgium, in the 48 hours which follow this statement," the court said. "If Facebook ignores this order it must pay a fine of 250,000 euros a day to the Belgian Privacy Commission," it added. A spokesperson for Facebook, meanwhile, has said the company will appeal the ruling and is "Working to minimise any disruption to people's access to Facebook in Belgium".