Facebook APIs gave manufacturers access to Facebook friends’ data

Facebook has signed deals with at least 60 manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung so that they had access to enormous amounts of personal data. This was done via ten-year-old APIs, which also gave them access to data from Facebook friends, The New York Times reports.

These agreements gave manufacturers, including Microsoft, Apple, Blackberry and Samsung, access to not only the user’s data, but also the data of his Facebook friends, even without permission. Some manufacturers were actually able to collect personal information from users’ friends, according to The New York Times, when these users believed they had disabled any form of data sharing.

Facebook has scaled back these partnerships and access to the on-device-integrated APIs, saying it has terminated 22 of these agreements. That means most of the agreements and APIs are still in use. Mark Zuckerberg reported in March that apps and games on Facebook are accessing less data than before, but The New York Times argues that the agreements and the integrated APIs actually allow manufacturers to get around this limitation.

According to the US newspaper, Facebook officials have confirmed that the company has agreements with at least 60 device manufacturers in the last ten years. This happened especially before Facebook apps became commonplace. Under the agreements, manufacturers could offer more functionalities in Facebook and Facebook could further expand its network. Until now, the newspaper said it was unclear what the scope of these agreements was.

Facebook has responded to the publication of The New York Times. The company confirms that about 60 hardware manufacturers have used the APIs in the past ten years, but the purpose of this was only to make it easy for people to use Facebook, regardless of what device and operating system was used. Facebook says it has strictly enforced the use of the APIs. According to the company, the agreements ensured that the personal data could only be used to improve the Facebook experience. Facebook contradicts that information from friends, such as photos, could also be accessed if sharing was turned off. The company says it is not aware of manufacturers who allegedly abused this.