HamburgPrivacyWatchdog
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German privacy watchdog orders Facebook to stay out of usernames
Facebook's authentic name policy was meant to make the social media platform a safe place where "pretending to be anything or anyone isn't allowed." But, ironically the policy bred harassment instead of curtailing it. Most recently, Facebook blocked a German user's account (as it often does) for using an alias, asked her to provide a copy of her ID and swapped her pseudonym with her real name without her consent. The user filed a complaint, claiming she had picked a fictitious name to avoid unwarranted business queries. The Hamburg Data Protection Authority responded and stepped in to protect her privacy rights. According to a Reuters report, the German agency has ordered Facebook to let users pick pseudonyms. The company can no longer control or change the usernames. What's more, it can't ask users for their IDs.
