Schleswig-Holstein's data protection commissioner, Thilo Weicher, ordered the shutdown after an analysis by his office showed that Facebook builds profiles of users and non-users alike with the "like" button's data. Because such data collection violates Germany's data protection laws, Weicher has given websites operated in Schleswig-Holstein until September 30th to remove all "like" buttons.

Facebook has issued its own statement in response to Weicher's claims. The company has denied Weicher's claims and insists that the "like" button is compliant with European Union data protections standards. According to Facebook, the "like" button only collects the IP addresses of non-users, and even that information is deleted after 90 days.

The European Union--and Germany in particular--has much than does the United States. In fact, this isn't the first time Facebook has clashed with Germany's strict privacy laws--earlier this month, German authorities in Hamburg asked the social networking giant to . The EU advisory board also announced it would be looking into , and any EU privacy laws such a feature might violate.