A consumer protection group Germany has sent Facebook a 'cease and desist' letter that claims the social-networking website breaches German privacy law. The Federation of German Consumer Organizations says Facebook has one week to stop automatically giving third party applications information about its users without their explicit consent.

The group said in a statement Monday that if Facebook fails to comply by September 4, it will sue the California company.

Facebook representatives in Germany didn't immediately respond to an email requesting comment.

German privacy rules have posed a legal headache for Facebook, Google and other foreign web giants in recent years. The country has strict laws on data protection that give consumers significant rights to limit the way companies use their information.