Facebook Fined by French Privacy Watchdog Over Data Collection

France's privacy watchdog on Tuesday slapped Facebook Inc. (FB) with a 150,000 euro ($165,616) fine, alleging the social media giant's 2015 privacy policy breaches French data protection rules.

Facebook compiles massive amounts of personal data for targeted advertising without granting users the option of objecting, the watchdog said. The regulator also accused Facebook of collecting data on users' browsing activity on third-party websites without their knowledge.

France first sent Facebook a formal notice about its concerns in January 2016 and also held a hearing about the issue in March 2017, before deciding to impose the fine.

France's investigations were carried out alongside probes by regulators in four other member states, including Belgium, Hamburg, Spain and the Netherlands.

Facebook didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

-Write to Natalia Drozdiak at natalia.drozdiak@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 16, 2017 06:28 ET (10:28 GMT)