German competition authority orders Facebook not to combine data between platforms without consent

The German Federal Cartel Office ordered Facebook to stop combining data from other Facebook-owned platforms such as WhatsApp and Instagram, without voluntary consent. The German regulator has given one month to Facebook to appeal its decision, which was built on a three-year investigation. According to TechCrunch, ‘despite such regulatory action, Facebook is ramping up efforts to tie users from its different platforms closer together’.