Facebook warns EU about privacy risks

Facebook warned European Union regulators on Monday against forcing tech giants to open their vast troves of data to rivals, saying such a move would carry privacy and liability risks.

European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager has voiced concerns that tech industry heavyweights might leverage their power to block rivals and that regulators could have to force them to provide key data to competitors to prevent that.

Nick Clegg, Facebook’s head of global affairs, said that could be a dangerous thing to do.

“There is a fundamental tension between transferring people’s data, particularly when your data isn’t just yours but data that you share with friends, with groups, with other online communities from one surface to a competitor surface,” he said, adding this “clearly carries with it privacy risks.”