Facebook Faulted for Storing Data on Nonmembers

A German data-protection official has launched legal proceedings against Facebook Inc. over the way it handles data about non-users of the social-networking service without their express permission.

Johannes Caspar, head of the data-protection agency for the German city-state of Hamburg, said he found fault with Facebook's invitation system, which allows users to import contacts from their address books to see if those people are also members of the social network, or to invite them to join. Caspar accused Facebook of saving private data of non-members without their permission, to be used for marketing purposes. Facebook said it had received a letter from Mr. Caspar and was working on a response.