The New York Times is out today with a bombshell report covering how Facebook gave some of the “world’s largest technology companies more intrusive access to users’ personal data than it has disclosed.” The report is based on internal records and interviews.
The deals were meant to “benefit everyone,” generating more growth for Facebook and giving other companies access to new features to make their platforms more enticing:
The exchange was intended to benefit everyone. Pushing for explosive growth, Facebook got more users, lifting its advertising revenue. Partner companies acquired features to make their products more attractive.
Additionally, Facebook allowed Microsoft’s Bing search engine to see names of users’ friends without consent. Netflix and Spotify were reportedly given the ability to read Facebook users’ private messages.
Today’s report from The Times is an extension of its original report in June on the data sharing deals Facebook had with over 60 hardware manufacturers, including Apple. Today’s report doesn’t expand too much on Apple’s role in the situation, saying that Apple devices had access to contact numbers and calendar entries of certain users:
Back in June, Tim Cook vehemently denied Apple’s involvement in any such data sharing deals with Facebook, saying Apple never requested nor received user data.
Apple officials said they were not aware that Facebook had granted its devices any special access. They added that any shared data remained on the devices and was not available to anyone other than the users.
The full report from The New York Times is definitely worth a read and goes in-depth into Facebook’s data sharing practices.
