Facebook and Netflix Officially Investigate, How They Profited from Users

Facebook and Netflix are under fire after documents recently unsealed in a lawsuit shed an unfavorable light on their practices for managing user data. According to explosive allegations in a major antitrust lawsuit, Netflix had access to Facebook users’ direct messages for “nearly a decade” in an effort to better personalize its service for its customers.

The court documents, which were made public on March 23, reveal an apparently privileged relationship between the streaming giant and the social media platform. According to the lawsuit filed by two US citizens, Maximilian Klein and Sarah Grabert, Facebook and Netflix “enjoyed a special relationship,” giving the streaming platform “tailored access” to its users’ data.

This close relationship has reportedly been strengthened by the personal connection between Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. In a deal signed shortly after Hastings joined Facebook’s board, Netflix had programmatic access to Facebook users’ private messages through an interface called the “Inbox API.”

Facebook and Netflix Officially Investigate, How They Profited from Users

In exchange for access to this data, Netflix provided biweekly reports to Facebook, now Meta, about how its users interacted with the platform, helping to improve the targeting and ranking of ads on the social network. The case highlights growing concerns about how the Silicon Valley giants handle their users’ private data.

Facebook, in particular, has been fined millions of dollars in the past for mishandling its customers’ personal information. For example, in 2022 the company was fined €265 million by Irish authorities after the data of over half a billion users was exposed online.

In addition to these privacy concerns, Facebook was also embroiled in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where it was discovered that the data of millions of users was used without permission to influence elections around the world. Despite previous claims downplaying the significance of this incident, the current revelations underscore the dire need for regulation and oversight of data collection and use practices in the digital age.

As more details emerge, it remains to be seen what the repercussions of this situation will be for both companies, and more importantly, what steps will be taken to protect the privacy and security of user data going forward.