The head of the US Senate Commerce Committee and consumer group Public Knowledge have said Facebook should be investigated over the recent report that the social media giant allowed over 60 device makers to have “deep” access to users’ personal data without their consent. The New York Times report suggested the shared data includes data pertaining to users who expressly denied Facebook permission to share their information with any third parties. Public Knowledge called on the Federal Trade Commission to probe whether the partnerships with companies such as Apple and Amazon violate Facebook’s 2011 consent decree, which prohibits the company from overriding users’ privacy settings without consent.
In a statement, Allie Bohm, Policy Counsel at Public Knowledge said: “Facebook promised that it had ended the company’s ‘friends’ permission’ feature in 2014,” adding that “the news that Facebook, in fact, continued to share users' friends' data – often without permission and even when the friends had expressly barred such sharing – with 60 device makers until April of this year belies Facebook's assertion.”
Separately, Reuters reported that the head of the US Senate Commerce Committee announced he would be asking Facebook about the report. “The Commerce Committee will be sending Facebook a letter seeking additional information” about issues including transparency and privacy risks, said Republican Senator John Thune in a statement.
