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Facebook probably shared your data with Apple, Samsung, and other manufacturers

The social media giant had partnerships with at least 60 device manufacturers.

shared your data facebook
Image: Hollywood Reporter

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It looks like Facebook provided around 60 device makers “deep access” to customer data. This came after the social network assured the Federal Trade Commision (FTC) that it no longer shared your data with third-parties.

According to The New York Times, Facebook has given device companies, such as Apple and Samsung, access to the data of users’ friends without their explicit consent.

As they explain,

Facebook has reached data-sharing partnerships with at least 60 device makers — including Apple, Amazon, BlackBerry, Microsoft and Samsung — over the last decade, starting before Facebook apps were widely available on smartphones, company officials said. The deals allowed Facebook to expand its reach and let device makers offer customers popular features of the social network, such as messaging, “like” buttons and address books.

In addressing the Cambridge Analytica scandal earlier this month, Facebook said it no longer allowed third-parties from accessing user data beginning in 2015. However, it appears that restriction didn’t include smartphone and tablet makers. The New York Times said the program, in fact, didn’t begin winding down until April of this year.

For its part, Facebook says this situation isn’t like the one with Cambridge Analytica, explaining,

Given that these APIs enabled other companies to recreate the Facebook experience, we controlled them tightly from the get-go. These partners signed agreements that prevented people’s Facebook information from being used for any other purpose than to recreate Facebook-like experiences. Partners could not integrate the user’s Facebook features with their devices without the user’s permission. And our partnership and engineering teams approved the Facebook experiences these companies built. Contrary to claims by the New York Times, friends’ information, like photos, was only accessible on devices when people made a decision to share their information with those friends. We are not aware of any abuse by these companies.

Facebook shouldn’t be sharing any personal data with a thirty-party without our consent. Wouldn’t you agree, how would you feel if they shared your data? Discuss it below.

For more Facebook news, see: Imagine that, the new Facebook political ad system is already causing problems, and Want to deactivate Facebook Messenger? Here’s how.

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Bryan considers himself a well-rounded techie, having written articles for MakeUseOf, KnowTechie, AppAdvice, iDownload Blog. When he's not writing, he's being a single dad and rooting for his alma mater, Penn State, or cheering on the Patriots.

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