Facebook Claimed To Pawn Off Data To Third Party Companies
There cannot be more fire on Facebook right now. The company has found itself struggling to survive after yet another allegation rose against the company. And of course, it is about data and how it is being misused. It has now be found that Facebook had given phone manufacturers access to detailed user data, which lead to users able to use Facebook’s features even without using the app. But now that has to lead the company into trouble.
The New York Times revealed this information, thus clearly showing that Facebook had a very loose oversight of its partnerships, and it didn’t even care to monitor closely on how these companies were using up their data. Now, how was this information found? PricewaterhouseCoopers, a privacy monitor agency that is government approved discovered this breach way back in 2013.
Pawned Data
But this report was never made public in full. Instead, it took 5 years for this matter to reach the public, and in this case, Senator Ron Wyden. This breach was made known only in October of this year. In the letter that was shared, it was made clear that Facebook VP of US Public Policy Kevin Martin revealed that this company tested Facebook’s partnership with Microsoft and Blackberry to check out the claims.
And they turned out to be true. The consulting group agreed that there is evidence, though limited, that Facebook has monitored or accessed this device’s compliance with Facebook’s Data Use policies. So, what did Facebook have to say about this? Well, Facebook’s own authors agreed to the fact that the company was not keeping tabs on how information was being shared, thus pawning off data to anyone who came asking for it.
Another Scandal
On the other hand, Facebook’s chairperson said that the social network takes the FTC’s consent very seriously and that the company remains strongly committed to the consent order and to protecting people’s information. But don’t let this make you think that the company took no steps to rectify its mistakes. Once the company burnt its fingers with the Cambridge Analytica scandal, the company started winding down its partners with whom it was sharing this information.
But still, this news is still shocking, and the US Government is finding this very hard to digest. Facebook had shared user information with over 50 tech companies, including few like Huawei. Now, why is that in particular disturbing? If the Chinese government is interested in this data, and if they ask for it, Huawei won’t have much to reject that request, thus transferring some heavy user data over to the Chinese government.
Facebook has yet once again laid under the scanner, and this time, things are going to be tough for Mark Zuckerberg.
