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Facebook reportedly under criminal probe for data sharing practices with ‘partners’

Federal prosecutors reportedly are probing Facebook’s data sharing partnerships with electronics companies, including smartphone makers, and a grand jury has subpoenaed information from at least two firms.

The partnerships - with more than 150 companies, according to a report by the New York Times - made it possible for the partner companies to gain access to Facebook user data.

Last year, in a blog post, Facebook defended sharing user data with at least 60 mobile device manufacturers, in an effort to make its services and experiences available to device owners via integrated APIs.

"Given that these APIs enabled other companies to recreate the Facebook experience, we controlled them tightly from the get-go,"Ime Archibong, Facebook's VP of product partnerships, wrote, explaining that mobile device manufacturers are considered trusted partners who essentially act as extensions of Facebook. 

"These partners signed agreements that prevented people's Facebook information from being used for any other purpose than to recreate Facebook-like experiences. Partners could not integrate the user's Facebook features with their devices without the user's permission. And our partnership and engineering teams approved the Facebook experiences these companies built."

But some believe Facebook’s legal comeuppance is long overdue. “Anyone who has illegally trafficked in personal data - or failed to report the loss of it - should face criminal charges,” said Shane Green, the CEO of digi.me and co-founder and chair of UBDI who claims that Facebook has done both. “Their business model makes it hard for them to know the difference.”

Green said it should come as no surprise that the social media giant is under investigation. “It’s high time government authorities held them accountable,” he said. 

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