Facebook Inc. (FB) had its share of controversies this year. From the much-talked-about Cambridge Analytica scandal to security breaches to rifts in management, the company has been in the news for a lot of wrong reasons. The emails recently released by the UK parliament does little to help its cause.
The documents are said to indicate that Facebook was more focused on its own growth than on the privacy of its users. Facebook has been accused of concealing its attempts to collect call and text logs from Android users without their consent by making it as tough as possible for the users to know what they were agreeing to while providing app permissions.
Facebook has adamantly refuted these allegations and maintains that it has never sold users’ data. The emails also revealed discussions between Facebook executives overcharging developers for user data access. Facebook said it decided not to pursue this option.
The social media company has also been painted as ruthless towards its competition. Facebook is said to have blocked its rivals’ access to information on its platform and also acquired companies that it felt would end up becoming tough competition.
Facebook has come under the scanner for its approach towards protecting user data as well as how its platform was misused to influence political decisions. The company has claimed time and again that it has done no wrong but the damage seems to have been done.
Facebook’s shares have fallen over 21% so far this year and over the past one month, the stock has dropped 7%. As of 2:10 pm ET, the stock was down 1.25%.