New Zealand Privacy Commissioner John Edwards wants his agency to have greater regulatory powers over Facebook Inc., Reuters reported.
Edwards is expected to ask lawmakers for additional powers to be able to bring companies to court and seek fines, according to the report.
Facebook has previously run afoul of the watchdog, when it refused the latter's demand for access to data. The social media giant defended its position, calling the incident a "broad and intrusive request for private data.”
New Zealand, which has 2.5 million Facebook account holders among its 4.5 million population, according to the privacy commissioner. Facebook previously said New Zealand users are subject to Irish privacy laws, later amending its terms of service so that international users will be under U.S. privacy laws.
Facebook's recent privacy adjustments are a response to the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation, a new set of rules governing how companies collect, store and use their users' information. The laws took effect May 25.
The company is still reeling from the Cambridge Analytica LLC scandal, which led to multiple investigations from government agencies worldwide.
