This German State Does Not ‘Like’

From Mashable’s Sarah Kessler comes this little gem. Apparently the German state of Schleswig-Holstein “…has ordered
state institutions to shut down their Facebook Pages and remove the “Like” button from their websites — or face fines.”

Sarah goes on to explain that “Schleswig-Holstein’s data-protection commissioner, Thilo Wechert, says that an analysis from
his office shows that Facebook builds profiles of both users and non-users with data collected by the Like button, reports
the Associated Press. If true, this would violate German and European data protection laws.”

Now on the surface, this looks like yet another case of a government body shutting down social media. However, as Thilo
Wechert explains, the Like button goes against their data protection laws. The laws that are supposed protect citizens from data collection such as the Like button.

Now in the Google day and age, I suppose we should all be used to data collection from all kinds of sources accross the interwebs. However, that doesn’t make it right. So is Schleswig-Holstein’s bid to ban the Like button yet another tyrannical case? Or are they genuinely trying to protect their people from that troublesome identity theft, or the equally enjoyable bank fraud?

What do you think?

Find Sarah Kessler’s full article at mashable.com