Facebook confirms data sharing with Chinese companies


Chinese have consistently denied but telecommunications companies have come under scrutiny from US intelligence officials who argue they provide an opportunity for foreign and threaten critical US infrastructure



Facebook confirms data sharing with Chinese companies

Facebook Inc said Tuesday it has data sharing partnerships with at least four Chinese companies including Huawei and Oppo, the smartphone maker, which has come under scrutiny from US intelligence agencies on security concerns.

 

The social media company said Huawei, computer maker Lenovo Group, and smartphone makers OPPO and TCL Corp were among about 60 companies worldwide received access to some user data after signed contracts to Facebook-like experiences for their users.

 

"Facebook along with many other U.S. tech companies have worked with them and other Chinese manufacturers to integrate their services onto these phones," Francisco Varela, vice president of mobile partnerships for Facebook, said in a statement. "Facebook`s integrations with Huawei, Lenovo, OPPO and TCL were controlled from the get-go — and we approved the Facebook experiences these companies built."

 

Earlier on Tuesday, the Senate Commerce Committee demanded that Facebook`s chief executive officer, Mark Zuckerberg, respond to a report that user data was shared with at least 60 device manufacturers, weeks after the social media company said it would change its practices after a political firm got access to data from millions of users.
New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood said on Monday the "data-sharing 
partnerships with other corporations" is part of the ongoing investigation into the reported misuse of Facebook user data by Cambridge Analytica.

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