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Why Germans Will Be Allowed To Use False Names on Facebook, But You Won't

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Facebook has been banned from enforcing its 'real names only' policy in Germany, allowing customers to use false names and refuse to provide official ID.

The ruling by the Hamburg data protection authority follows a complaint from a woman who had wanted to use a pseudonym to keep her business separate from her private life. But the company blocked her account, demanded ID and unilaterally changed her username to her real name.

The decision means a rejection of Facebook's argument that, because its European headquarters is in Ireland, it only has to abide by Irish data protection laws (Ireland ruled the real-names policy legal in December 2011).

But this argument was shaken by a decision last year by the European Court of Justice relating to the right to be forgotten. The court ruled that Google was subject to local laws so long as it had economic activity in the relevant country.

"Facebook cannot again argue that only Irish data protection law would be applicable,"  Hamburg's commissioner for data protection, Johannes Caspar, tells Reuters. "Anyone who stands on our pitch also has to play our game."

German law specifically allows the use of a pseudonym, and companies aren't allowed to demand a passport or other official ID. The policy also contravenes the German Data Protection Act.

Facebook's real-name policy has been fraught with controversy, most seriously over the risk that it can put victims of domestic violence or other vulnerable people in danger.

It's also come under fire from drag queens, who often use pseudonyms, and Native Americans, whose names often contain the names of animals or natural features that Facebook misidentifies as fakes.

The company has attempted to smooth over the issue recently by saying that usernames don't have to be legal names - simply the one that the user goes by in real life.

But it's told Reuters that it's disappointed with the decision, claiming the policy 'protects people’s privacy and safety by ensuring people know who they’re sharing and connecting with'.

What the policy also does, of course, is give Facebook a far more reliable mine of information that can be sold to advertisers. While the company promises not to sell individual personal data, the policy cuts out much of the dross that would derive from multiple, disposable accounts.

Facebook's not likely to backtrack on the policy in the rest of the world, in short, unless it has to.