After Facebook admitted on June 5 to sharing user data with four China tech companies, lawmakers are pressing the social media giant to further explain the partnerships.
The four companies—in particular, telecoms giant Huawei, whom U.S. national security intelligence agencies view as a threat—have since come under scrutiny. The other three are computer maker Lenovo and smartphone makers Oppo and TCL.
The Chinese firms were among approximately 60 companies worldwide that received access to user data after signing contracts with Facebook to recreate a Facebook-like experiences for users.
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, urged Facebook to release more details about the collaboration. “The news that Facebook provided privileged access to Facebook’s API [application program interface, a set of protocols for building software] to Chinese device-makers like Huawei and TCL raises legitimate concerns,” Warner said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee pressed Facebook for more information in a letter released on June 5.
Leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee expressed concern that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was not totally forthcoming when he testified before Congress in April, as he did not disclose such relationships with Chinese companies then.
“Clearly, the company’s partnerships with Chinese technology companies and others should have been disclosed before Congress and the American people,” the committee’s chairman, Greg Walden (R-Ore.), and ranking member Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said in a statement.
