Facebook has decided to delay the launch of its new dating feature in Europe following a row with the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC).
The social networking and technology company announced a delay in the launch of Facebook Dating in Europe after the DPC raised several issues. According to the DPC, it was informed about the feature just 10 days prior to the scheduled launch and "no information or documentation was provided to us".
The regulator said: "We were very concerned that this was the first that we’d heard from Facebook Ireland about this new feature, considering that it was their intention to roll it out tomorrow, 13 February."
“Our concerns were further compounded by the fact that no information/documentation was provided to us on 3 February in relation to the Data Protection Impact Assessment [DPIA] or the decision-making processes that were undertaken by Facebook Ireland,” the DPC added.
However, Facebook argued that it had accomplished the necessary paperwork and shared it when asked. A company representative pointed out: "It's really important that we get the launch of Facebook Dating right, so we are taking a bit more time to make sure the product is ready for the European market."
"We worked carefully to create strong privacy safeguards and complete the data-processing impact assessment ahead of the proposed launch in Europe, which we shared with the [regulator] when it was requested," the representative added.
Facebook Dating, which launched in September in the US, is a feature that uses the social network's data on a person to show common friends and interests on their dating profile. The potential rival to dating giant Tinder can also pull in posts from Instagram.
The company assured that since it already had tons of information about people's lives, it made special efforts to ensure safety, security and privacy. Unlike Facebook Messenger, users cannot sent photos, videos, and links via the dating messaging service.
