Mark Zuckerberg on stage at Facebook's F8 Conference, 2014. (Photo: Maurizio Pesce, Flickr)
Mar 14, 2019
The social media giant Facebook is under criminal investigation for data sharing deals it struck with over 150 third party companies, in news sure to increase scrutiny of the company and big tech in general.
\u201cAnother legal headache for Facebook: A federal grand jury in New York has subpoenaed records related to the social network\u2019s data-sharing partnerships with other big tech companies. With @AllMattNYT and @gabrieldance. https://t.co/y7Y0V43kD7\u201d— Michael LaForgia (@Michael LaForgia) 1552518550
The New York Timesreported Wednesday evening that a federal grand jury in New York issued subpoenas to the company at some point over the last few months, though, as the Times pointed out, it was unclear exactly when.
What is clear, however, is that Facebook's data sharing deals violated users' privacy and that the activity may rise to the standard of criminality. It's possible that the deals violated the terms of a 2011 consent decree the company made with the Federal Trade Commission.
Per the Times report:
The sharing deals empowered Microsoft's Bing search engine to map out the friends of virtually all Facebook users without their explicit consent, and allowed Amazon to obtain users' names and contact information through their friends. Apple was able to hide from Facebook users all indicators that its devices were even asking for data.
The report capped a very bad day for Facebook after the site underwent its worst outage ever Wednesday. And the revelation that the company is facing criminal charges is only going to give more credibility to the #BreakUpBigTech idea put forward by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who is running for president and making going after Silicon Valley one of her top priorities on the campaign trail.
\u201cFacebook, Amazon, and Google have vast power over our economy and democracy. They\u2019ve bulldozed competition and tilted the playing field in their favor. Time to break up these companies so they don\u2019t have so much power over everyone else. #BreakUpBigTech https://t.co/2rWT0wJ8vD\u201d— Elizabeth Warren (@Elizabeth Warren) 1552053696
With criminal charges potentially in the offing, mused TIME editor-at-large Anand Giridharadas, a break-up of big tech might be preferable to the alternative.
Warren's fellow Massachusetts Democrat Sen. Ed Markey said he was "glad prosecutors are investigating whether Facebook broke criminal law."
\u201cI'm glad prosecutors are investigating whether Facebook broke criminal law when it broke consumers' trust & shared users' data without consent. I wrote to Mark Zuckerberg about these revelations in June & demanded answers because Americans have a right to control their own data.\u201d— Ed Markey (@Ed Markey) 1552529537
The Daily Beast editor Noah Schachtman brought up Zuckerberg's past statements as a contrast to the news.
\u201c"We have a responsibility to protect your information. If we can\u2019t, we don\u2019t deserve it."\n\n-- Mark Zuckerberg\n\nhttps://t.co/mr8Ubxr9EV\u201d— Noah Shachtman (@Noah Shachtman) 1552518810
Perhaps the pithiest reaction, however, was saved for the Open Markets Institute's Matt Stoller.
\u201cZoink\u201d— Matt Stoller (@Matt Stoller) 1552522909
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. Join with us today! |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
The social media giant Facebook is under criminal investigation for data sharing deals it struck with over 150 third party companies, in news sure to increase scrutiny of the company and big tech in general.
\u201cAnother legal headache for Facebook: A federal grand jury in New York has subpoenaed records related to the social network\u2019s data-sharing partnerships with other big tech companies. With @AllMattNYT and @gabrieldance. https://t.co/y7Y0V43kD7\u201d— Michael LaForgia (@Michael LaForgia) 1552518550
The New York Timesreported Wednesday evening that a federal grand jury in New York issued subpoenas to the company at some point over the last few months, though, as the Times pointed out, it was unclear exactly when.
What is clear, however, is that Facebook's data sharing deals violated users' privacy and that the activity may rise to the standard of criminality. It's possible that the deals violated the terms of a 2011 consent decree the company made with the Federal Trade Commission.
Per the Times report:
The sharing deals empowered Microsoft's Bing search engine to map out the friends of virtually all Facebook users without their explicit consent, and allowed Amazon to obtain users' names and contact information through their friends. Apple was able to hide from Facebook users all indicators that its devices were even asking for data.
The report capped a very bad day for Facebook after the site underwent its worst outage ever Wednesday. And the revelation that the company is facing criminal charges is only going to give more credibility to the #BreakUpBigTech idea put forward by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who is running for president and making going after Silicon Valley one of her top priorities on the campaign trail.
\u201cFacebook, Amazon, and Google have vast power over our economy and democracy. They\u2019ve bulldozed competition and tilted the playing field in their favor. Time to break up these companies so they don\u2019t have so much power over everyone else. #BreakUpBigTech https://t.co/2rWT0wJ8vD\u201d— Elizabeth Warren (@Elizabeth Warren) 1552053696
With criminal charges potentially in the offing, mused TIME editor-at-large Anand Giridharadas, a break-up of big tech might be preferable to the alternative.
Warren's fellow Massachusetts Democrat Sen. Ed Markey said he was "glad prosecutors are investigating whether Facebook broke criminal law."
\u201cI'm glad prosecutors are investigating whether Facebook broke criminal law when it broke consumers' trust & shared users' data without consent. I wrote to Mark Zuckerberg about these revelations in June & demanded answers because Americans have a right to control their own data.\u201d— Ed Markey (@Ed Markey) 1552529537
The Daily Beast editor Noah Schachtman brought up Zuckerberg's past statements as a contrast to the news.
\u201c"We have a responsibility to protect your information. If we can\u2019t, we don\u2019t deserve it."\n\n-- Mark Zuckerberg\n\nhttps://t.co/mr8Ubxr9EV\u201d— Noah Shachtman (@Noah Shachtman) 1552518810
Perhaps the pithiest reaction, however, was saved for the Open Markets Institute's Matt Stoller.
\u201cZoink\u201d— Matt Stoller (@Matt Stoller) 1552522909
The social media giant Facebook is under criminal investigation for data sharing deals it struck with over 150 third party companies, in news sure to increase scrutiny of the company and big tech in general.
\u201cAnother legal headache for Facebook: A federal grand jury in New York has subpoenaed records related to the social network\u2019s data-sharing partnerships with other big tech companies. With @AllMattNYT and @gabrieldance. https://t.co/y7Y0V43kD7\u201d— Michael LaForgia (@Michael LaForgia) 1552518550
The New York Timesreported Wednesday evening that a federal grand jury in New York issued subpoenas to the company at some point over the last few months, though, as the Times pointed out, it was unclear exactly when.
What is clear, however, is that Facebook's data sharing deals violated users' privacy and that the activity may rise to the standard of criminality. It's possible that the deals violated the terms of a 2011 consent decree the company made with the Federal Trade Commission.
Per the Times report:
The sharing deals empowered Microsoft's Bing search engine to map out the friends of virtually all Facebook users without their explicit consent, and allowed Amazon to obtain users' names and contact information through their friends. Apple was able to hide from Facebook users all indicators that its devices were even asking for data.
The report capped a very bad day for Facebook after the site underwent its worst outage ever Wednesday. And the revelation that the company is facing criminal charges is only going to give more credibility to the #BreakUpBigTech idea put forward by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who is running for president and making going after Silicon Valley one of her top priorities on the campaign trail.
\u201cFacebook, Amazon, and Google have vast power over our economy and democracy. They\u2019ve bulldozed competition and tilted the playing field in their favor. Time to break up these companies so they don\u2019t have so much power over everyone else. #BreakUpBigTech https://t.co/2rWT0wJ8vD\u201d— Elizabeth Warren (@Elizabeth Warren) 1552053696
With criminal charges potentially in the offing, mused TIME editor-at-large Anand Giridharadas, a break-up of big tech might be preferable to the alternative.
Warren's fellow Massachusetts Democrat Sen. Ed Markey said he was "glad prosecutors are investigating whether Facebook broke criminal law."
\u201cI'm glad prosecutors are investigating whether Facebook broke criminal law when it broke consumers' trust & shared users' data without consent. I wrote to Mark Zuckerberg about these revelations in June & demanded answers because Americans have a right to control their own data.\u201d— Ed Markey (@Ed Markey) 1552529537
The Daily Beast editor Noah Schachtman brought up Zuckerberg's past statements as a contrast to the news.
\u201c"We have a responsibility to protect your information. If we can\u2019t, we don\u2019t deserve it."\n\n-- Mark Zuckerberg\n\nhttps://t.co/mr8Ubxr9EV\u201d— Noah Shachtman (@Noah Shachtman) 1552518810
Perhaps the pithiest reaction, however, was saved for the Open Markets Institute's Matt Stoller.
\u201cZoink\u201d— Matt Stoller (@Matt Stoller) 1552522909
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.