Facebook was slapped with a ruling in Germany today that limits how the social media giant can collect data across its multiple platforms, like WhatsApp and Instagram. And Facebook is not happy about it, to say the least. The company says it’s collecting all of that data for your own good. They’re simply using their data sharing methods to protect you against terrorism and child abuse, according to Facebook. Seriously.

The Bundeskartellamt, Germany’s federal regulator of business competition, ruled that Facebook can no longer use data that it collects across different platforms without explicit permission from users. Facebook users in Germany and elsewhere previously had no way to opt out of the sharing of data between platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram, and third-party apps not owned by Facebook.

“The previous practice of combining all data in a Facebook user account, practically without any restriction, will now be subject to the voluntary consent given by the users,” Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellam, said in a statement.

The German regulator noted that it didn’t take issue with Facebook-owned services like WhatsApp and Instagram collecting data. It just didn’t like that one company was aggregating all of that data across multiple platforms. And the Bundeskartellamt alleges that Facebook has used this data collection in anti-competitive ways.

“The company has a dominant position in the German market for social networks,” the regulator said in a statement on its website this morning. “With 23 million daily active users [in Germany] and 32 million monthly active users, Facebook has a market share of more than 95 per cent (daily active users) and more than 80 per cent (monthly active users).”

The German regulator also noted that Google+ would be shutting down in April of 2019 and that Facebook’s other competitors like Snapchat, YouTube, and Twitter only offer “parts of the services” that Facebook does.

But Facebook, which history will no doubt judge harshly as being a net negative for humanity, is pushing back and maintains that there’s real competition among social media platforms in the country.

“The Bundeskartellamt underestimates the fierce competition we face in Germany, misinterprets our compliance with GDPR and undermines the mechanisms European law provides for ensuring consistent data protection standards across the EU,” Facebook said in a statement.

Facebook claims that “over 40 per cent of social media users in Germany don’t even use Facebook,” which seems like an odd claim since 60 per cent market share would be considered monopolistic in almost any other industry. For example, Standard Oil had roughly 64 per cent market share in 1911 before it was broken up by the U.S. government for being a monopoly.

Facebook insists that combining all of that data is actually great. In fact, the company says, it’s keeping everyone safe from stuff like terrorism and child abuse.

gizmodo.co.uk