BREAKING: Foreign Firm Flagged By US Intelligence Got YOUR User Data For Horrifying Reason
SOURCE : https://goo.gl/PizK1C
Facebook user engagement has been in a freefall downward slide leaving the company scrambling to figure out new methods for boosting its user engagement since it came under fire for the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Zero Hedge reported on Facebook’s recent “dirty trick” for trying to boost its user engagement numbers – using phone numbers provided for two-factor authentication to send users data they can “engage with” but didn’t sign up for receiving via text message. They told “the story of Gabriel Lewis, who tweeted that Facebook texted “spam” to the phone number he submitted for the purposes of 2-factor authentication. And no, he insists he did not have mobile notifications turned on.
What’s more, when he replied “stop” and “DO NOT TEXT ME,” he says those messages showed up on his Facebook wall.”
Now in the latest bombshell revelation, we find that Facebook has also provided unrestricted access to user data to at least four Chinese electronics companies, including government-linked telecom giant Huawei.
These relationships were discovered and revealed as a part of a data sharing partnership program which included a minimum of 60 major device manufacturers, including but not limited to Apple, Amazon, Blackberry, Microsoft and Samsung. This data sharing partnership allowed these companies to integrate various Facebook features into their operating systems, thus giving them access to user data and that of the data of the users’ friends and family without their knowledge or consent.
Of particular concern is Huawei as lawmakers in Congress and top intelligence officials have previously raised red flags over whether or not the Chinese government might be able to demand access to data stored on Huawei devices or servers. Naturally, Huawei denies any such claims, yet the Pentagon chose to take definitive action and ban the sales of Huawei smartphones on U.S. military bases stemming from such concerns.
According to the Washington Post – Facebook data was only ever stored on Huawei servers, only directly on devices. WaPo notes – “A spokesman for Huawei did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Facebook late Tuesday confirmed that it had worked with Huawei, as well as three other Chinese firms, Lenovo, OPPO, and TCL. Facebook said those arrangements were “controlled from the get-go — and we approved the Facebook experiences these companies built.
Facebook’s statement followed a day of silence about its relationships with Chinese firms, which drew a sharp rebuke from Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va). Warner said in a statement Tuesday that Facebook’s relationships with Huawei and TCL raise ‘legitimate concerns, and I look forward to learning more about how Facebook ensured that information about their users was not sent to Chinese servers.’”
Amid the fallout from this most recent discovery, Facebook claims they plan to wind down their relationship with Huawei by the end of the week.
According to a New York Times report from Sunday evening, the data-sharing agreement allowed manufacturers to access information on relationship status, calendar events, political affiliations, and religion, among other things.
An Apple spokesman further revealed that the company relied on its private access to Facebook data to allow users to post on the social network without opening the Facebook app itself. This allowed manufacturers to access the data of users’ friends and family without their explicit consent. This is all in spite of Facebook insisting to all and sundry that they would not and had not allowed outside companies to access user data.
The NYT reports – “Facebook’s view that the device makers are not outsiders lets the partners go even further, The Times found: They can obtain data about a user’s Facebook friends, even those who have denied Facebook permission to share information with any third parties.
In interviews, several former Facebook software engineers and security experts said they were surprised at the ability to override sharing restrictions.”