Apple says it has never received or requested user data via Facebook

Apple CEO Tim Cook says his company has never received or requested data from users under an agreement with Facebook. The New York Times reported that Facebook has signed deals with 60 manufacturers for access to Facebook user data.

Tim Cook says in an interview with website NPR that Apple is far from collecting or receiving personal data. “We have never engaged in data trading,” Cook says. He says Apple has never received or requested private information, such as the relationship status or religious background of users. According to him, Apple has only added the ability on Apple devices to share photos with each other through the Facebook API, so that this became easier for users.

Recently, a New York Times study revealed that about ten years ago, before apps on mobile devices became commonplace, Facebook signed agreements with at least 60 manufacturers for the use of Facebook APIs. This would allow manufacturers to access massive amounts of personal data, something Facebook denies. According to the company, the APIs were only intended to allow smartphone users to use Facebook in a user-friendly way and it was not possible to view personal data of users who had disabled data sharing.