Berlin (dts news agency) – The Federal Data Protection Officer Ulrich Kelber has expressed concerns about the use of the social networks Instagram, Tiktok and Clubhouse in federal authorities. “In cooperation with the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), we carry out a technical check of the respective apps,” Kelber told the “Handelsblatt” (Tuesday edition).
“It’s about the software that runs on the devices of the federal authorities and their employees.” Initial findings pointed to “data protection problems”, says Kelber. However, the test is not yet complete. “As an authority, we have to be very specific.”
At the same time, Kelber reiterated his criticism of the so-called Facebook fan pages. These pages could “still not be operated in accordance with the law because of the unclear shared data protection responsibility between Facebook and the operator of the page,” said the data protection officer. Last year, Kelber therefore asked the federal government and the highest federal authorities to shut down their Facebook pages by the end of 2021. So far this has not happened.
However, Kelber sees no immediate need for action. “My goal is not necessarily to switch off Facebook fan pages, but I want to achieve data protection-compliant communication between the federal government and the citizens,” he said. However, it is questionable whether this will succeed. “We have now held talks with the federal government and Facebook again and will see what the result will be,” said Kelber.
“I hope that Facebook will finally show some understanding and bring not only the federal government’s fan pages, but all fan pages, into a form that complies with European data protection regulations.”
Photo: Facebook, via dts news agency
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