Criminal investigation focuses on Facebook for data sharing with high-tech companies – report | Technology

According to the New York Times, Facebook is under criminal investigation by federal prosecutors who are reviewing its data-sharing agreements with other major technology companies.

A New York grand jury has summoned records from "at least two major smartphone and device manufacturers," the Times reported, citing two unnamed sources.

According to the report, the two companies, including Amazon, Apple and Microsoft, have partnered with Facebook to access the personal information of hundreds of millions of users.

"We cooperate with the investigators and take these investigations seriously," a Facebook spokesman told The Times. "We have provided public testimony, answered questions and made the commitment to continue to do so."

The criminal investigation adds to a long list of outstanding issues since the Cambridge Analytica revelations a year ago highlighted the company's data protection and privacy practices. Investigations by the Federal Trade Commission, the Ministry of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission have already been reported. Facebook was also sued by Washington DC in late December for allowing Cambridge Analytica to obtain personal data from users without authorization.

The data sharing agreements were reported by the New York Times in June and December of last year.

Facebook has given companies such as Netflix, Spotify, Microsoft, Sony and Amazon the ability to access user data long after they stop sharing their data with most third parties. At the time, the company had strongly disputed the fact that these data partnerships violated users' privacy or the company's 2012 settlement with the FTC.

Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Guardian. The company's services have suffered breakdowns all over the world throughout the day, with no explanation so far.