The controversy over third-part companies getting access to Facebook user data doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon. The latest revelation is that Apple, Samsung, Microsoft and Blackberry were just a handful of more than 60 device makers given ‘deep access’ to user data …
Most notably, the New York Times reports that Facebook gave them access to data from users’ friends even after the social network assured the Federal Trade Commission that it was no longer sharing such data.
Facebook had responded to the Cambridge Analytica scandal by stating that it ceased allowing such third-party access in 2015, but the NYT reports that this doesn’t appear to include device makers.
Facebook responded to the piece with a post called ‘Why We Disagree with The New York Times.’ In it, the company says that APIs were provided to allow access to Facebook on a range of devices, and that this is a very different situation to Cambridge Analytica.
The company says that with iOS and Android now so dominant, it has now ended access by 22 device makers, and started limiting the power of them in April.
However, the FTC’s former chief technologist said that the decision to override sharing restrictions was concerning.
Facebook said last week that it was dropping its Trending feature that promoted popular news content, and replacing it with three new features.
Photo: Luke MacGregor/Bloomberg
