Facebook said on September 8 it would sign up to a voluntary code of conduct in Germany to protect users' data, the first time the site has agreed to such measures in a nation especially sensitive about privacy. "We support this initiative towards self-regulation," said the social networking site's director of European public policy, Richard Allan, after a meeting with Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich.
"It can be a very effective way to protect the interests of Internet users," added Allan. Self-regulation is "especially important in the fast-moving domain of the Internet," said Friedrich in a statement.
Facebook has come under fire in Germany, where privacy is a particularly sensitive issue for historical reasons, after a series of glitches.
Facebook is not the only technology firm to run foul of Germans' concerns about data protection.
"With Facebook's willingness to sign up for this self-regulation the debate over the extent to which German data protection law applies to Facebook has been considerably defused," the interior ministry said.