Germany: Facebook 'spying' illegal

The Germany Federal Data Protection Commissioner has responded to queries from job centres about the legality of checking the status of benefit recipients.

Under German law people must be informed if their data is being collected.  Job centres may not use social media or search engines to search for information on claimants.  Data must be sourced directly from the individuals unless foul play is suspected or people are uncooperative.

Source: The Local