Facebook used people’s data as a bargaining chip, emails and court filings suggest

Facebook executives in recent years appeared to discuss giving access to their valuable user data to some companies that bought advertising when it was struggling to launch its mobile ad business, according to internal emails quoted in newly-unredacted court filings. In an ongoing federal court case against Facebook, the plaintiffs claim that the social media giant doled out people’s data secretly and selectively in exchange for advertising purchases or other concessions, even as others were cut off, ruining their businesses. The case was brought by one such app, Six4Three, which claims its business was destroyed in 2015 by Facebook’s actions. Using personal data as a bargaining chip — and giving special privileges to some companies while shutting out many others — appears to contradict Facebook’s repeated promises that it has never sold people’s data, as well as its claims that it restricted data in order protect privacy and that its data partners were on an equal playing field. The case also raises questions about Facebook’s compliance with a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, which stipulated in 2011 that the social network could not give third party developers access to user data that people thought they had kept private.