Dutch privacy watchdog recommends government organisations stop using Facebook

Figurines with computers and smartphones are seen in front of Facebook logo in this illustration taken, February 19, 2024. /Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

AMSTERDAM - The Dutch privacy watchdog AP on Friday said it was recommending that government organizations should stop using Facebook as long as it is unclear what happens with personal data of users of the government's Facebook pages.

"People that visit a government's page need to be able to trust that their personal and sensitive data is in safe hands," AP chairman Aleid Wolfsen said in a statement.

Junior minister for digitalization Alexandra van Huffelen said Facebook parent company Meta had to make clear before the summer how it could take away the government's concerns on the safety of data.

"Otherwise we will be forced to stop using Facebook, in line with this advice," she said.

(Reporting by Bart Meijer and Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)