Meta's customers will be able to "for the first time decide largely freely and informed" whether they want to use its services "in isolation or link them to each other," Germany's anti-cartel office said in a statement.
The competition watchdog, which has been in trouble with Meta for a long time, welcomed "an important step" of the American group with which it was in dispute on this issue of data protection.
Meta confirmed to AFP this new function, available in all countries, explaining that it has "updated the overview of Meta accounts to make more transparent how our services work together and to give people more control over these functions".
The German Cartel Office had ordered Meta, still known as Facebook, in 2019 to stop merging user data collected through its subsidiaries and other websites unless users gave their consent.
The social media giant had opposed the decision in the German courts, the case landing before the European Court of Justice, which is due to deliver its judgment on July 4.
Without waiting for this decision, Meta made changes that make the new overview "significantly more transparent and understandable", according to the Bonn Office.
The interface uses clearer language and simplifies the process of separating accounts if users wish.
Customers can now choose to use Meta's platforms separately or link them to benefit from additional features such as "cross-posting" (simultaneous publication of the same message on several social media sites), which also means that Meta uses the linked data for advertising purposes, explains the Office.
The Federal Cartel Office last year classified Meta as a company of "paramount importance for competition", allowing for closer monitoring of possible abuses of its market position.
Other tech giants Amazon, Apple and Google's parent company Alphabet, are also subject to increased scrutiny made possible by new German legislation in 2021 extending the Office's powers against internet heavyweights.
© 2023 AFP