Facebook has had data-sharing agreements with at least 60 device markers, many of which are still in effect, according to a report in The New York Times.
Apple, Amazon, Samsung, and Microsoft are among companies that have had a data-sharing partnership with Facebook over the past 10 years, according to The Times. Without explicit consent, device makers were allowed to access data of users’ friends, The Times said, even after Facebook said it would not share such information.
A Facebook statement in response to the report denies that information belonging to friends of users was shared without permission.
To read more about how Facebook gave user data to companies, click here.
In other news:
Apple may be getting back into the mobile ad game. Apple is considering launching a new mobile ad network, and the company has already talked with Pinterest and Snap about the effort, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Microsoft is buying GitHub, a popular platform for software developers worth around $2 billion. GitHub, which has struggled to hire a new CEO, has been bought by Microsoft for $7.5 billion.
Sandy Parakilas, the former Facebook employee who helped blow the whistle on Cambridge Analytica, has said he won't stop pressuring the company until it ensures the integrity of elections. Parakilas is due to appear in Brussels before European lawmakers on Monday.
There's a big risk that people are giving away sensitive DNA information to insecure websites. McClatchy DC found sites owned by Ancestry had been hacked, and that the company is handing over people's anonymised data to a research firm owned by Google.
Private-equity firm Vista Equity Partners has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Integral Ad Science, the Wall Street Journal reports. Marketers are increasingly using third-party measurement firms to assess whether their digital ads ended up where they intended and were seen by humans.
