Facebook's Data Deals Are Under Criminal Investigation (cnn.com) 49
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The New York Times: Federal prosecutors are conducting a criminal investigation into data deals Facebook struck with some of the world's largest technology companies (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source), intensifying scrutiny of the social media giant's business practices as it seeks to rebound from a year of scandal and setbacks. A grand jury in New York has subpoenaed records from at least two prominent makers of smartphones and other devices, according to two people who were familiar with the requests and who insisted on anonymity to discuss confidential legal matters. Both companies had entered into partnerships with Facebook, gaining broad access to the personal information of hundreds of millions of its users. The companies were among more than 150, including Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Sony, that had cut sharing deals with the world's dominant social media platform. The agreements, previously reported in The New York Times, let the companies see users' friends, contact information and other data, sometimes without consent. Facebook has phased out most of the partnerships over the past two years. "We are cooperating with investigators and take those probes seriously," a Facebook spokesman said in a statement. "We've provided public testimony, answered questions and pledged that we will continue to do so."
What is News here? (Score:2)
Didn't we know this already?
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Nice try, Zuckerberg.
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Agreed. Like “people are leaving Facebook in droves”
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No news here just more Facebook bashing. How about a positive article? I won't hold my breath waiting for that.
Someone openly begging for FAKE NEWS?!?!
Wow.
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Law enforcement is behind the curve a bit. They're all like: "Oh hey these guys have been breaking the law! WTF guys? You said you weren't doing that!"
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With new technology, the rule of thumb is governments are 10-20 years behind what's actually happening today.
Re: What is News here? (Score:3)
Ideas are a dime a dozen. Execution is what's important.
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I agree with you. Not only should used car salesmen should be guarded, they should be guarded twice.
so what? (Score:1)
Apologies will be made, a fine will be paid, and betterment will be promised, but as usual nobody will go to prison or loose his fortune.
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Money is tight these days. Better not loose it.
Impeach Zuck! (Score:1)
We've all been waiting for Facebook to go down the same path as Friendster and MySpace so lets just make Facebook disappear.
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The problem is, even if Facebook goes down another will simply take its place because people never learn.
Internet people, doubly so.
Or as Korg would say: "Another day, another Doug."
Who Is The Capital Behind Facebook? (Score:5, Interesting)
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Go back to your own website, Mark.
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You cannot moderate a thread that you've commented in.
Virtual +1, Insightful.
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Re:Who Is The Capital Behind Facebook? (Score:5, Insightful)
What was frightening was the _crazy_ adoption rate of this mediocre web service - _everyone_ I knew was putting pressure on everyone else _they_ knew to also be on Facebook. People kept telling me "I can't find you on Facebook, I can't find you on Facebook". That doesn't happen without Billions of Dollars in capital behind the first push of the website.
You have greatly underestimated the stupidity of mankind.
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I recall when it first launched, Zuckerberg's name wasn't attached to or associated with it at all, and word was the project started with InQTel money.
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I would respond, but I don't know if you're real. I can't find you on facebook.
Why were CB radios such a big thing in the 70's.
Why did everybody have to record every last thing they did on VCR in the 80's?
Why were so many people putting up lame Geocities web sites in 90's?
AOL sent out a lot of coffee table coasters, but why were so many people hip to hang out in a chat room in the 00's?
People in general are desparate for their 15 minutes of fame, and will go to great lengths to stretch it to 15:01. Zuck h
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Investigate Facebook already (Score:5, Funny)
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It's not actually. Python lacks pass by reference among other things which is why it's not actually used in advanced work as anything other than a fancy BASH alternative to execute programs written in more serious languages.
PHP does everything C does with some ease of use features like multi-line strings and is quite fast about it. Converting from PHP to C and back is pretty trivial.
The difference between Python developers and QuickBASIC developers is that QuickBASIC developers knew it was a limited langu
THEY want to stay anonymous? (Score:1)
Ain't that grand!
Also: Why has nobody commented on this yet?
Strange, Canada says not (Score:2)
I know the PR people say they're responding, but a number of countries, including Canada, say FB isn't cooperating, or at least not in any measurable way.
What have they done that's criminal? (Score:1)
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