As per the leaked internal documents, it has been found that social media giant Facebook has sold users' data, private messages and contact information to over 150 companies including a few of the world's largest technology companies such as Amazon, Microsoft and others, reported New York Times. Check out the whopping numbers:
1/122.2 billion: Facebook user base. (Pixabay)
2/12150 Firms: including device makers that got access to Facebook user's private data. (Pixabay)
3/12Facebook's data helped the tech giants refine their products and improve their revenue. (Pixabay)
4/12While Facebook earned more through ads, it also obtained data from partners for a controversial friend-suggestion tool called "People you may know". (Pixabay)
5/12Microsoft: Its Bing search engine was allowed to see names of virtually all FB users' friends. (Pixabay)
6/12Spotify, Netflix and the Royal Bank of Canada: Could read, write and delete users' private messages. (Pixabay)
7/12Sony, Amazon: Could obtain users' email addresses through their friends. (Pixabay)
8/12Apple: was allowed to hide from Facebook users all indicators that its devices were asking for data. (Pixabay)
9/12September 2018: An attack on Facebook's computer network exposed the personal data of nearly 50 million users. (Pixabay)
10/122014: UK-based consulting firm Cambridge Analytica harvested the personal data of tens of millions of users. (Pixabay)
11/122009: Facebook changed the privacy settings of the 400 million people then using the service, making some of their information accessible to all of the internet. (Pixabay)
12/12Facebook said it did not give companies access to personal data of users without their permission. None of these partnerships or features gave companies access to information without people's permission said the social media company. (Reuters)