NEWSLETTER-2019-metin

283 PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION market for social networks with its specific terms of service with re- spect to its handling of user data 13 . Without having conducted further market investigations, Andreas Mundt, President of the FCO, hinted at considering Facebook as a dominant company in a separate market for social networks, and sent a message to dominant companies through Facebook, as follows: “ Dominant companies are subject to special obligations. These in - clude the use of adequate terms of service as far as these are relevant to the market. For advertising-financed internet services, such as Facebook, user data is hugely important. For this reason, it is es - sential to also examine, under the aspect of abuse of market power , whether consumers are sufficiently informed about the type and extent of data collected. ” 14 . The FCO intervened in Facebook’s data gathering from a compe- tition law perspective since the data protection boundaries set forth in the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) were overstepped, also in view of Facebook’s dominant position 15 . Facebook’s Market Position in Germany Facebook is the platform that develops and operates various digital products, and online services and applications for smartphones (apps) 16 . In Germany, Facebook.com has been available in Germany since 2008 and, in 2018, the number of daily active users in Germany was approximately 23 million, while approximately 32 million users were classified as monthly active users 17 . In determining the relevant market, the FCO has made a detailed analysis. It has examined Facebook’s business model and its special characteristics as a multi-sided network market with free services 18 . Based on the demand-side substitutability in the market, the FCO 13 Please see fn. 11. 14 Please see fn. 11. 15 Decision, p. 1, 2. 16 Decision, p. 2. 17 Decision, p. 4. 18 Please see fn. 17.