Facebook under investigation for sharing users' personal data

Facebook is under criminal investigation for sharing personal user data with at least two large smartphone device companies, according to the New York Times.

A grand jury in New York subpoenaed records from the device maker companies, two anonymous sources familiar with the matter told the New York Times. Both companies gained access to hundreds of millions of Facebook users' personal information through their partnerships with the social media giant.

It is unclear what the criminal investigation is focusing on and when it began. Facebook is still under investigation for violating terms of a consent agreement and sharing data from nearly 50 million of its users to Cambridge Analytica, a data analytics firm that worked for President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, according to the report.

Facebook Co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently addressed the social media platform's notoriously open-sharing platform and its plan to shift toward a "privacy-focused" network. Mr. Zuckerberg outlined six initiatives the company will implement to build the new platform upon, including encryption, secure data storage and private interactions.

The social media platform has recently faced additional criticism for its data-sharing practices. The company obtained personal health data from users through popular health and fitness apps without consent and allegedly leaked health information of members in various private and public Facebook groups.

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