Facebook changes cookie rules for Belgium

Facebook has responded to a new privacy ruling in Belgium by announcing users must be logged in before they can view anything on the social networking sites and cookies of non-members will not be tracked.

The Belgian Privacy Commissioner (BPC) ruled in November that Facebook must not track the activities of non-Facebook users, meaning the company has had to change the inner workings of its site specifically for those accessing it from the country.

This is a short-term solution though and Belgian authorities expect Facebook to take further action in order to safeguard non-social network users.

Facebook will contest the order brought against it by the BPC, it said, but is willing to make the small changes until the matter can be resolved.

"We had hoped to address the BPC's concerns in a way that allowed us to continue using a security cookie that protected Belgian people from more than 33,000 takeover attempts in the past month," Facebook said in a statement.

"We're disappointed we were unable to reach an agreement and now people will be required to log in or register for an account to see publicly available content on Facebook."

Facebook said it would fully comply with the order when it is issued; also saying it would implement cookies for logged in users to protect them against attacks on the Facebook network. However, it will delete cookies where it is able.

"We continue to have significant concerns that requirements set forth during these proceedings in respect of cookie practices have not been applied fairly and equitably within Belgium to other internet services, as demonstrated in the reports we have submitted in the past," Facebook added.

Data provacy experts have commented that it's likely such practice will be rolled out in the whole of Europe as it is applying European law rather than specific Belgian law.