France Wants to Harvest Facebook Data to Catch Tax Fraudsters
- Macron’s government seeks to introduce rule in 2020 budget law
- French privacy regulator published reservations about the plan
Photographer: Tim Bennett
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French President Emmanuel Macron is planning to give tax authorities the power to harvest data from Facebook, Instagram and other social media to help detect fraud.
The government wants parliament to include an article in the 2020 budget law granting the new powers to officials from the tax and customs administrations. The state will also screen online market places like EBay Inc., Vinted, or Le Bon Coin as part of a trial program that is slated to run for three years.