Facebook Earns US Lawmakers' Rebuke Over Data-Sharing Pacts With Chinese Firms

Two key US lawmakers on Wednesday rebuked Facebook for not being more transparent over its data sharing practices after the social media company said it had collaborated with at least four Chinese companies, including a smartphone maker that has raised US security concerns.

The top Republican and Democrat on the US House Energy and Commerce Committee said Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg should have disclosed those data-sharing partnerships when he testified before Congress in April.

"Clearly, the company's partnerships with Chinese technology companies and others should have been disclosed before Congress and the American people," the panel's Republican chairman Greg Walden and ranking Democrat Frank Pallone said in a statement.

"We strongly encourage full transparency from Facebook and the entire tech community," they wrote.

On Tuesday, Facebook said Huawei Technologies, computer maker Lenovo Group, and smartphone makers Oppo and TCL Corp were among about 60 companies worldwide that received access to some user data after they signed contracts to re-create Facebook-like experiences for their users.

Huawei, the world's third-largest smartphone maker, has come under scrutiny from US intelligence agencies who argue that Chinese telecommunications companies provide an opportunity for foreign espionage and threaten critical US infrastructure, something the Chinese have consistently denied.

Facebook on Tuesday said it would end the Huawei pact this week and was ending the other three Chinese partnerships as well, adding that more than half of the partnerships had already wound down.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman had no comment on the companies' agreements.

Members of Congress have expressed concern after The New York Times reported that the data of users' friends could have been accessed without their explicit consent. Facebook denied that and said the data access was to allow its users to access account features on mobile devices.

In a separate letter on Tuesday, the Senate Commerce Committee also pressed Facebook for more information, while the Senate Intelligence Committee's top Democrat urged Facebook to release further details.

Facebook said it would address the Commerce Committee's questions.

Congressional staff have said the company still has not answered hundreds of questions from lawmakers after Zuckerberg's testimony before two committees in April.

Other companies that have used Facebook data sharing include Amazon.com, Apple, HTC, Microsoft and Samsung Electronics, Facebook has said.

Several countries are scrutinising the social network after it failed to protect the data of some 87 million users that was shared with now-defunct political data firm Cambridge Analytica.

© Thomson Reuters 2018