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Facebook relaxed its own rules to give these 61 companies special access to user data

Mark Zuckerberg

  • Facebook told US lawmakers that while it imposed new data-sharing restrictions on the majority of app developers in May 2015, 61 companies received a special "one-time" extension.
  • The list of companies includes Nike, Spotify, and UPS. It is unclear why these companies, in particular, received the extension.
  • In addition, Facebook found five companies which theoretically could have accessed restricted friends' data as a result of beta tests.
  • The revelation comes after the Cambridge Analytica scandal in which the data of 87 million Facebook users was compromised.


Facebook has confessed to breaking its own rules to give 61 companies special access to user data.

In a 747-page document handed to the US House of Representatives' Energy and Commerce Committee on Friday, Facebook said app developers could request Facebook data including name, gender, birthdate, location, photos, and page likes.

In April 2014, Facebook introduced a new, more restricted API (application program interface) which required that new apps go through a review and approval process, and prevented new apps from accessing friends' data without review. It also gave users more granular controls over what data an app operating on the new platform could access.

Most already-existing apps on the platform had until May 2015 to comply with these changes before being migrated to the new API, and becoming subject to the new review and approval process. But 61 companies were given an extension of "less than six months" after the May deadline to come into compliance.

Here is the full list of firms given special treatment:

  1. ABCSocial, ABC Television Network
  2. Actiance
  3. Adium
  4. Anschutz Entertainment Group
  5. AOL
  6. Arktan / Janrain
  7. Audi
  8. biNu
  9. Cerulean Studios
  10. Coffee Meets Bagel
  11. DataSift
  12. Dingtone
  13. Double Down Interactive
  14. Endomondo
  15. Flowics, Zauber Labs
  16. Garena
  17. Global Relay Communications
  18. Hearsay Systems
  19. Hinge
  20. HiQ International AB
  21. Hootsuite
  22. Krush Technologies
  23. LiveFyre / Adobe Systems
  24. Mail.ru
  25. MiggoChat
  26. Monterosa Productions Limited
  27. never.no AS
  28. NIKE
  29. Nimbuzz
  30. NISSAN MOTOR CO / Airbiquity Inc.
  31. Oracle
  32. Panasonic
  33. Playtika
  34. Postano, TigerLogic Corporation
  35. Raidcall
  36. RealNetworks, Inc.
  37. RegED / Stoneriver RegED
  38. Reliance/Saavn
  39. Rovi
  40. Salesforce/Radian6
  41. SeaChange International
  42. Serotek Corp.
  43. Shape Services
  44. Smarsh
  45. Snap
  46. Social SafeGuard
  47. Socialeyes LLC
  48. SocialNewsdesk
  49. Socialware / Proofpoint
  50. SoundayMusic
  51. Spotify
  52. Spredfast
  53. Sprinklr / Sprinklr Japan
  54. Storyful Limited / News Corp
  55. Tagboard
  56. Telescope
  57. Tradable Bits, TradableBits Media Inc.
  58. UPS
  59. Vidpresso
  60. Vizrt Group AS
  61. Wayin

Serotek, an accessibility app for blind and visually impaired people, received an eight-month extension.

It is not clear in the document exactly why these companies received extra time to adapt to the new restrictions. Business Insider has contacted Facebook for comment.

Facebook also admitted that it discovered five companies could have theoretically gained access to restricted friends' data as the result of a beta test. Those identified were:

  1. Activision / Bizarre Creations
  2. Fun2Shoot
  3. Golden Union Co.
  4. IQ Zone / PicDial
  5. PeekSocial

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