Click to Skip Ad
Closing in...

Netflix claims it never accessed private messages from Facebook users

Published Dec 19th, 2018 11:05PM EST
Facebook Privacy
Image: AP/REX/Shutterstock

If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.

It’s been something of a wild, if not downright controversial, year for Facebook. While the company was simply content to remain a social networking behemoth far removed from controversy, the company was thrust into the spotlight this year once details surrounding the Cambridge Analytica scandal emerged. Since then, Facebook has continuously found itself embroiled in one privacy-related controversy after another.

The latest chapter in Facebook’s fall from grace came via a New York Times expose which alleges that Facebook gave third-party tech giants like Amazon, Google, and Netflix far more access to user data than anyone had previously imagined. In one particularly outrageous claim, the Times notes that companies like Netflix were given the ability to read private messages from Facebook users.

Responding to the expose, a Facebook spokesperson said that any information accessed by a third-party was done with user permission. What’s more, Facebook explained that “our integration partners had to get authorization from people. You would have had to sign in with your Facebook account to use the integration offered by Apple, Amazon or another integration partner.” Facebook’s full blog post addressing the NYT report can be viewed here.

While not every tech company has commented on the allegations, Netflix issued a statement indicating that it at no time read, or was even aware it had access to private messaging data from users.

“Netflix never asked for, or accessed, anyone’s private messages,” the streaming giant said in a tweet. “We’re not the type to slide into your DMs.”

In a follow-up statement, Netflix explained further:

Over the years we have tried various ways to make Netflix more social. One example of this was a feature we launched in 2014 that enabled members to recommend TV shows and movies to their Facebook friends via Messenger or Netflix. It was never that popular so we shut the feature down in 2015. At no time did we access people’s private messages on Facebook, or ask for the ability to do so.

Yoni Heisler Contributing Writer

Yoni Heisler has been writing about Apple and the tech industry at large with over 15 years of experience. A life long expert Mac user and Apple expert, his writing has appeared in Edible Apple, Network World, MacLife, Macworld UK, and TUAW.

When not analyzing the latest happenings with Apple, Yoni enjoys catching Improv shows in Chicago, playing soccer, and cultivating new TV show addictions.