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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has ordered two state agencies to investigate a press report that Facebook may have access to much more personal information than previously known smartphone users, including including medical and other data.
The directive sent to the State Department and the Financial Services Department (DFS) in New York came after the Wall Street Journal said that tests had shown that Facebook had collected personal information from other apps on smartphones. users a few seconds after entering them.
The WSJ reported that several apps shared sensitive user data, including weight, blood pressure, and ovulation status, with Facebook. The report states that the company can access the data in some cases even when the user is not logged in to Facebook or does not have a Facebook account.
In a statement, Cuomo described this practice as "outrageous abuse of privacy." He also called on the relevant federal regulators to get involved.
In a statement, Facebook said it would help New York State officials in their investigation, but said the WSJ report was focused on how other apps use people's data. to create advertisements.
"As [the WSJ] According to the information provided, we ask other developers to clearly apply to their users the information they share with us and we prohibit application developers from sending us sensitive data. We are also taking steps to detect and delete data that should not be shared with us, "said the company.
Facebook's shares were short-lived after the newspaper report was published, but closed up 1.2%.
At the end of January, Cuomo and New York Attorney General Letitia James announced an investigation into Apple 's failure to warn consumers of a FaceTime bug that would have allowed users to get Adobe' s. iPhone to follow the conversation of people who have not yet accepted video calls.
Facebook faces a series of lawsuits and regulatory inquiries into privacy issues, including an investigation by the US Federal Trade Commission into revelations that Facebook inappropriately shared information belonging to 87 Million users with Cambridge Analytica policy advice.
The Financial Services Department of New York does not usually directly supervise social media companies, it is interested in digital privacy in the financial sector and could monitor some application providers who send user data to Facebook.
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