Lawmakers Press Facebook Over Risky Data Access In Hostile Countries

Facebook has long been proud of the access it provides to developers to create apps and other tools for users. However, some of those developers aren’t always looking out for our privacy. That’s why, according to two prominent US lawmakers, developers in hostile countries like China and Russia potentially shouldn’t have open access to Facebook users’ data.

In a letter sent to Facebook this week, Senators Marco Rubio and Mark Warner revealed they know the company is aware of “tens of thousands” of developers in China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea who have access to sensitive user info.

“As Facebook’s own internal materials note, those jurisdictions ‘may be governed by potentially risky data storage and disclosure rules or be more likely to house malicious actors,’ including ‘states known to collect data for intelligence targeting and cyber espionage,’” the senators wrote in their letter. “We have grave concerns about the extent to which this access could have enabled foreign intelligence service activity, ranging from foreign malign influence to targeting and counter-intelligence activity.”

For its part, Facebook said that the Senators’ concerns are “from a different product at a different time,” and that the company has since built safeguards to protect user data. However, it’s hard to blame these lawmakers from being distrustful of Facebook’s data practices, and that’s why their questions still deserve an answer.




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