Facebook Has Provided More User Information to Major Companies Than Previously Disclosed

On Wednesday, December 19, Facebook announced that it does not allow access to users' personal information to other companies without user consent. This statement from Facebook officials is a response to a report by The New York Times on Tuesday, which claims that the social network allows major digital technology companies access to user information far beyond what has been publicly disclosed. The newspaper, citing internal reports and documents from Facebook, reported that Facebook allowed Microsoft's search engine to access the names of all users' friends without their consent. Konstantinos Papamiltiadis, Facebook's Director of Development and Planning, wrote in a blog post: 'None of these partnerships or new tools have allowed other companies to access people's information without their permission, and none of them violate our agreement with the Federal Trade Commission in 2012.' In 2012, Facebook reached an out-of-court settlement with the FTC regarding allegations of deceiving customers and forcing them to share more personal information. Facebook claims that the purpose of allowing other companies access is to help users access their accounts on Facebook or tools and platforms provided by other companies such as Apple, Amazon, Blackberry, and Yahoo. The New York Times report also claimed that Facebook allowed companies like Netflix and Spotify to read users' private messages and permitted Amazon to obtain names and contact information through users' friends on Facebook. A Netflix spokesperson responded to this report, stating: 'We have never had access to people's private messages on Facebook and have never requested such access.' Netflix launched a tool in 2014 that allowed subscribers to recommend their favorite movies and TV shows to their friends on Facebook through the Netflix network or Messenger. The spokesperson added that due to a lack of public interest, this service was discontinued in 2015. Facebook states that the purpose of providing access to other companies is to help users access their accounts on Facebook or tools and platforms provided by other companies like Apple and Amazon. This tool also allows users to see recommendations from their friends on websites like Netflix and Spotify. Facebook claims that users must open their Facebook accounts to use tools from companies like Apple and Amazon. According to Facebook, nearly all of these partnerships, except for those with Apple and Amazon, which users find useful, have been shut down in recent months. Recently, a member of the British Parliament released documents showing that Facebook had offered several companies, including Netflix and Airbnb, access to users' friends' information, which was not available to most applications in 2015.