The New York Times presented an investigation, according to which Facebook had data-sharing partnerships for several years with at least 60 device manufacturers, such as Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Samsung and Blackberry.
Facebook granted third-party access to these companies to extract user data before its apps were available for iOS and Android devices. These agreements may have violated a 2011 Federal Trade Commission order, which Facebook representatives denied.
It is worth noting that the social networking company had previously argued that data sharing activities with third-party developers ended in 2015, but electronic device manufacturers were exempted.
Although 22 of the agreements were terminated after the Cambridge Analytica, some of them remain in place. Facebook told the Times that it allowed for “strictly limited use of the data” and that it was “not aware of any instances where the information had been misused.”
The amount of data leaked is unclear at this time, but access to data has allowed companies like Apple to offer many Facebook features to users, such as the ability to post photos directly from their device without opening the Facebook app.
The New York Times also found that these data-sharing agreements allowed companies to access users' personal information, such as relationship status, work history, date of birth, religious and political views, and even information about users' friends.
What's worse is that device manufacturers could also have access to the data of those users who had blocked Facebook because it had shared their personal information with third parties.
According to the company, such data-sharing partnerships were different from the access granted to developers and that hardware manufacturers are considered “extensions” of the social network. However, security experts have expressed concerns about such activities, saying that this method is like putting a lock on your door and the locksmith giving duplicate keys to all his associates so that they can enter your house at any time they want.
