Beiruting News

A Belgian court has given Facebook 48 hours to stop tracking the online activities of non-Facebook users in Belgium unless they have their explicit consent or face a daily fine of €250,000. The internet giant has pledged to appeal the decision.

"If a surfer doesn't have an own Facebook account, Facebook from now on will have to explicitly solicit consent and provide the needed explanations," the Brussels court of first instance said.

Tommelein said that Monday's ruling means that the Belgian court has jurisdiction over the company on its home turf. Facebook argues that since its European headquarters are in Ireland, the Irish Data Protection Commissioner is the only authority that can restrict their activity.

EU privacy laws require prior consent before installing a cookie or tracking online users. It requires websites that use cookies to notify individuals on their first visit.

Facebook, which reported $7.5 billion in second quarter revenue this year, says they will appeal the court's decision. The social media giant argues that their tracking activity identifies browsers, not the people themselves, and helps the company to distinguish legitimate visitors from possible attackers.