(06/11/2019) 7000 pages document leak allowed to shed light on
Facebook internal practices
(...) The piles of leaked documents, which directly reference the company's questionable position on competition, are likely to be extremely helpful to the dozens of entities currently investigating Facebook on antitrust grounds. California, however, is conducting a privacy investigation. (...)
(...) Facebook wielded its control over user data to hobble
rivals like YouTube, Twitter, and Amazon. The company
benefited its friends even as it took aggressive action
to block rival companies' access – while framing its
actions as necessary to protect user privacy. (...)
(...) Facebook executives quietly planned a data-policy
"switcharoo." "Facebook began cutting off access to user
data for app developers from 2012 to squash potential
rivals while presenting the move to the general public
as a boon for user privacy," Reuters reported on
Wednesday, citing the leaked documents. (...)
(...) Facebook considered charging companies to access user
data. Documents made public in late 2018 revealed that
from 2012 to 2014, Facebook was contemplating forcing
companies to pay to access users' data. (It didn't
ultimately follow through with the plan. (...)
(...) Facebook whitelisted certain companies to allow
them more extensive access to user data, even after it
locked down its developer platform throughout 2014 and
2015.TechCrunch reported in December that it "is not
clear that there was any user consent for this, nor how
Facebook decided which companies should be whitelisted
or not. (...)
(...) Facebook planned to spy on the locations of
Android users. Citing the documents, Computer Weekly
reported in February that "Facebook planned to use its
Android app to track the location of its customers and
to allow advertisers to send political advertising and
invites to dating sites to 'single' people. (...)
Sources