In March, Facebook took out full page apology ads in several prominent newspapers. The ad was in response to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where nearly 100 million users had their data mined by the political consulting firm for use in the 2016 presidential election. The header of the ad read, “We have a responsibility to protect your information. If we can’t, we don’t deserve it.”
Now, a new exposé from the New York Times reveals the the social network has been not only sharing user data, but has allowed more than 150 tech companies unprecedented access to user’s private messages and content. Facebook allowed Netflix, Spotify and the Royal Bank of Canada to read, write and delete users’ private messages, as well as allowing Microsoft, Sony and Amazon access to the email addresses of users and their friends.
These partnerships often focus on company integrations, where Facebook and another tech company collaborate to create new apps, products or capabilities. For example, Spotify was given access to the messaging app so they could integrate a feature where users can send spotify songs and playlists via messager.
The investigation shows a troubling pattern of Facebook allowing the tech companies they’ve partnered with to sidestep privacy rules in the name of profit. This violates a 2011 consent agreement with the Federal Trade Commission that blocks Facebook from sharing user data without permission. Facebook released a statement saying, “None of these partnerships or features gave companies access to information without people’s permission, nor did they violate our 2012 settlement with the FTC.”
Using loopholes within privacy agreements, Facebook has extended their own privacy rules to these tech companies, classifying them as partners of Facebook and granting them access to the data. For their part, companies like Netflix, Apple and Spotify claim that they were ignorant to the full scale of their access and unaware of the breach in privacy.
*Update:* A Netflix spokesperson provided us with the following statement on the subject:
“Over the years we have tried various ways to make Netflix more social. One example of this was a feature we launched in 2014 that enabled members to recommend TV shows and movies to their Facebook friends via Messenger or Netflix. It was never that popular so we shut the feature down in 2015. At no time did we access people’s private messages on Facebook, or ask for the ability to do so.”
Netflix never asked for, or accessed, anyone’s private messages. We’re not the type to slide into your DMs.
— Netflix US (@netflix) December 19, 2018
While Facebook continues to profit off of data mining, the government seems wholly unprepared to tackle the complex issue. This was painfully obvious when Google chief executive Sundar Pichai appeared before the House Judiciary Committee just last week. The committee was made up of older reps who lacked the most basic understanding of technology, including Rep. Steve King (R-IA) who questioned Pichai about his granddaughter’s iPhone, only to be told by the CEO that Google doesn’t make the product.
Members of the Senate have called on congress to pass the data privacy bill, a piece of bi-partisan legislation from U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and John Kennedy (R-LA).
BREAKING: Investigation uncovered that Facebook gave companies access to private personal data – including messages & phone numbers – for hundreds of millions of users without their knowledge. Unacceptable. Congress should pass my bipartisan privacy bill with @SenJohnKennedy. https://t.co/izkKYCR23t
— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) December 19, 2018
Tech companies can no longer pretend to be “bystanders” in “never-ending high stakes information war.” Making big $ off of cyberattacks + privacy violations must = accountability. @nytimes Facebook report today must = FTC penalties &privacy legislation https://t.co/4mZ0ucPnuM
— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) December 19, 2018
2019 brings a newer, younger and more tech-savvy class of congresspeople into the government. Hopefully they will be able to steer policy towards providing concrete data protection and more transparency from Facebook and other tech companies. In the meantime, brace yourselves for more full page apologies. And maybe delete your Facebook account.
(via New York Times, image: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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