Facebook may demand real names

Facebook may refuse to permit the use of a Facebook account under a pseudonym. The company prevails in summary proceedings against the order of the Hamburg Data Protection Officer, by which it was obligated to enable the use of the account under a pseudonym.

The affected Facebook user originally used Facebook under her legal name. In order to avoid the mixing of private and professional activities on Facebook, she later changed her username to pseudonyms. After Facebook questioned the authenticity of the user's profile, access to her account was blocked.

In the course of events, the user submitted various documents to Facebook to prove her identity, but without success. When Facebook eventually asked the user to send a photo showing both her and her official identification document, the user contacted the HamburgData Protection Officer. The latter used the user's complaint as an occasion to order Facebook to enable the affected person to use her Facebook account under her pseudonym.

The order was issued against Facebook Ireland Ltd., which forms the principal place of business of the company outside North America. Against the order of the Data Protection Officer, the company appealed in summary proceedings.

Court decision in favour of Facebook

Bydecision of 03.03.2016 – 15 E 4482/15, the Administrative Court of Hamburg (VG Hamburg) decided that the order of the Data Protection Officer may not be enforced in the interim. In doing so, the court proceeded on the assumption that the order, given the inapplicability of Germandata protection law, according to whichtelemedia providers are in principle obligated to enable the use of telemedia anonymously or under a pseudonym, would presumably be substantively unlawful.

The law of that Member State of the European Union with which the disputed data processing is most closely connected must apply. According to the court's view, the underlying data processing is most closely connected with the activities of the Facebook branch in Dublin, since user accounts are managed there. By contrast, the Facebook branch in Germany is connected only indirectly, in particular economically, with the disputed data processing.

Conclusion

In any event, for the time being Facebook may continue to require that users use their real names (so-called real names) within their profiles. An appeal may still be filed against the decision with the Hamburg Administrative Court of Appeal (OVG).