Federal prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into Facebook's data partnerships with global technology giants, adding to the already-intense scrutiny of the company's conduct as it works to boost its reputation, according to the New York Times.
Details: Two companies that have done business with Facebook and had access to the personal data of hundreds of millions of users were subpoenaed by a grand jury in New York.
Background: Already, Facebook has faced audits by the Federal Trade Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The deals now in question — though common years ago — were a way to let device makers build Facebook integrations deep into phones, coming under scrutiny following the Cambridge Analytica revelations. Facebook has since eliminated most of those partnerships and is now cooperating with the probe.
