Facebook’s Shocking Betrayal: Netflix Given Access to Users’ Private Messages for Nearly a Decade

Facebook’s Shocking Betrayal: Netflix Given Access to Users’ Private Messages for Nearly a Decade

In a startling turn of events, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is being accused of allowing Netflix access to users’ private inbox messages for nearly a decade, purportedly to help the streaming giant customise content for its audience.

These allegations surfaced from court documents unsealed on March 23, initially filed in April last year as part of a significant antitrust lawsuit against Meta. Filed by Maximilian Klein and Sarah Grabert, two US citizens, the lawsuit claims that Facebook and Netflix had a close relationship, with Facebook granting the streaming service unique access to user data.

The lawsuit further contends that since at least 2011, the two tech giants engaged in custom partnerships and integrations, leveraging the personal friendship between Netflix’s co-founder Reed Hastings and Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg. Lawyers assert that shortly after Hastings joined Facebook’s board of directors, the companies inked an agreement known as the “Inbox API” (Application Programming Interface), enabling Netflix to access users’ private message inboxes on Facebook.

Lawyers alleged that ‘within a month’ of Hastings joining Facebook’s board of directors, the two companies signed an ‘Inbox API’ (Application Programming Interface) agreement that ‘allowed Netflix programmatic access to Facebook’s user’s private message inboxes.’

APIs serve as software components facilitating communication and data sharing between different applications.

In return, Netflix would furnish Facebook (now Meta) with biweekly reports detailing how its users engaged with the platform.

In the past, Meta has paid substantial fines for its handling of user data. In 2022, Ireland imposed a €265 million ($284 million) fine on Meta following a data breach affecting over half a billion users. This breach led to the leakage of users’ full names, phone numbers, locations, and birthdays from 2018 to 2019, attributed to a “bad actor” exploiting a security vulnerability identified by Meta.

Similarly, in the same year, Meta agreed to a US$725 million settlement in a security breach case related to Cambridge Analytica, a British firm known for its involvement in the Brexit vote and the 2016 US presidential election.

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