Facebook Halts Oculus Quest Sales In Germany Amid Privacy Concerns (arstechnica.com) 27
Facebook has "temporarily paused" sales of its Oculus Quest headsets to customers in Germany. "Reports suggest the move is in response to concerns from German regulators about the recently announced requirement that all Oculus users will need to use a Facebook account by 2023 to log in to the device," reports Ars Technica. From the report: "We have temporarily paused selling Oculus devices to consumers in Germany," Facebook writes in a brief message on the Oculus support site. "We will continue supporting users who already own an Oculus device and we're looking forward to resuming sales in Germany soon." Facebook declined an opportunity to provide additional comment to Ars Technica. But in a statement to German News site Heise Online (machine translation), the company said the move was due to "outstanding talks with German supervisory authorities... We were not obliged to take this measure, but proactively interrupted the sale."
In a statement provided to Heise Online, the Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (HCDPFI) said, in part: "The obligation to create a Facebook account [to access an Oculus headset] is legally extremely questionable, at least for those who have already bought a headset. Whether this also applies to new customers is definitely open to discussion. That should largely depend on the design of the contract, which we do not have." The group goes on to cite the GDPR's so-called "coupling ban," which prohibits tying one side of a contract (say, the EULA needed to use an Oculus headset) to the sharing of specific personal data (say, the data included in a user's personal Facebook account).
Facebook's requirement that "the use of the headset should be linked to the establishment of a Facebook account" would seem to violate this coupling ban, HCDPFI said. "For those users who already have a headset and do not log in with a Facebook account after 2023, there is also no immediately suitable alternative to continuing to use the headset. The compulsion to use Facebook is therefore exerted on both old and new customers."
In a statement provided to Heise Online, the Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (HCDPFI) said, in part: "The obligation to create a Facebook account [to access an Oculus headset] is legally extremely questionable, at least for those who have already bought a headset. Whether this also applies to new customers is definitely open to discussion. That should largely depend on the design of the contract, which we do not have." The group goes on to cite the GDPR's so-called "coupling ban," which prohibits tying one side of a contract (say, the EULA needed to use an Oculus headset) to the sharing of specific personal data (say, the data included in a user's personal Facebook account).
Facebook's requirement that "the use of the headset should be linked to the establishment of a Facebook account" would seem to violate this coupling ban, HCDPFI said. "For those users who already have a headset and do not log in with a Facebook account after 2023, there is also no immediately suitable alternative to continuing to use the headset. The compulsion to use Facebook is therefore exerted on both old and new customers."
Ugh (Score:5, Insightful)
So instead of letting you buy and use one without being spied on, they refuse to let you buy one.
Re: (Score:2)
Some things are still more important than money. For a money loving corporation this says a lot about their real ethics and driving force.
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Even better, if you call Zuckerberg a fucking anal retentive cock sucker and Facebook is full of shit hole employees, when they ban your account they KILL your device on purpose and if that ain't illegal, then EU courts are full of shite, just right to allow EU citizens to be fucked over by corporations.
Re: (Score:2)
So far you can say whatever you want about Zuckerfuck on Faceboot without ill effects.
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Re:Ugh (Score:5, Insightful)
And this would be a deal breaker for me too...I would not use ANY product that required me to have a FB or any other social media account.
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This was an inevitability as soon as facebook purchased Oculus. The day that was announced, I abandoned any hope of ever owning one, because I knew that a) they would be collecting as much information as they could even without a facebook account, and b) someday the announcement that a facebook account would be required would come.
facebook can die a slow, horrible death, and Oculus with it.
Re:Ugh (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: Ugh (Score:2)
Result: Facebook blocked in Germany due to privacy concerns.
We were always spied on... (Score:1)
There can only be one! (Score:3)
Valve Index or nothing!
Mandatory Facebook account? (Score:2)
How many people named Adolph Hitler live in Germany anyway?
Re: Mandatory Facebook account? (Score:1)
Just create dummy accounts (Score:2)
You can create dummy account for Oculus in Facebook and don't have to share any private information.
Re:Just create dummy accounts (Score:5, Funny)
I thought ALL Facebook accounts were dummy accounts.
I will see myself out.
Re:Just create dummy accounts (Score:5, Informative)
Re: Just create dummy accounts (Score:2)
If they can figure out it's a dummy account.
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Most likely, you will lose the ability to use any software you bought using the account.
That's just an interim step. The end result is a huge fine from regulators in countries which actually have consumer protection laws where cutting off people from purchased content is illegal.
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Thankful we have the EU (in this context) (Score:2)
Not gonna start a political discussion whether the EU is a good thing or not ... but in _this_ particular context:
I'm very happy we got the EU visibly pushing back at "too big to fail" global corporations. Because noone else does. The US administration seems to be entirely in the pockets of the googles, facebooks, microsofts, amazons, etc of the world. And China, Russia, etc. - well, make your own conclusions.
The EU famously did the whole "free browser selection" thing. They push back on privacy issues. The
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Think about it... The EU, which forces a "one size fits all" and "shut up and take it" model on member states, which insists on pushing for ever more integration, even in the face of evidence that this could be a bad idea (look at the financial crisis caused by the failure of the economies of Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain)... turn around and
Germany, fuck yeah! (Score:2)
One of the few occasions where I'm proud of my country.
The GDPR is as if somehow a unrealistic dream of me came true. ;)
Whatever lizard people behind the curtains had that change of heart, I thank ye.
What about the rest of Europe (Score:2)
A much more interesting question here, however, is to think about the way that the EU actually works. All the countries in the EU have ratified and implemented the GDPR, even the UK, which despite being on the eve of leaving, has already enshri