Facebook is facing another investigation in connection with the report that it was collecting its users’ contact lists without their consent since May 2016.
A spokesperson for the social media giant confirmed that the e-mail contacts of 1.5 million Facebook users were “unintentionally uploaded” to its systems, but “were not shared with anyone.” It is “deleting the users’ contact lists and fixing the problem.”
Business Insider first reported the social media giant’s latest privacy mistake after a security researcher tweeted last week that Facebook was asking users’ email passwords when signing up for new accounts.
On Thursday, the New York Attorney General’s office said it is opening an investigation into Facebook’s “unauthorized collection of users’ email contact databases.”
Facebook must be held accountable for mishandling users’ personal data
In a statement, Attorney General Letitia James said, “It is time Facebook is held accountable for how it handles consumers’ personal information.” She added that the social media giant “has repeatedly demonstrated a lack of respect for consumers’ information while at the same time profiting from mining that data.”
