Facebook Inc. said Tuesday it has data sharing partnerships with at least four Chinese companies including Huawei, the world's third largest smartphone maker, which has come under scrutiny from U.S. intelligence agencies on security concerns.
The social media company said Huawei, computer maker Lenovo Group and smartphone makers OPPO and TCL Corp. were among about 60 companies worldwide that received access to some user data after they signed contracts to re-create Facebook-like experiences for their users.
Members of Congress raised concerns after The New York Times reported on the practice on Sunday, saying that data of users' friends could have been accessed without their explicit consent. Facebook denied that and said the data access was to allow its users to access account features on mobile devices.