Facebook gave user data to Chinese firm Huawei, suspected of government links

Facebook allowed Huawei, a Chinese telecom company with alleged ties to the country’s government, to have special access to data about the social site’s users, according to a person familiar with the matter but not authorised to speak on the record. Such a special arrangement could stoke fears that consumers’ personal information is at risk.

The relationship between Facebook and Huawei was one of the special agreements brokered between the social giant and device makers over the past decade that sought to make it easier for Facebook users to access site services on a wide array of technologies.

For years, lawmakers in Congress and top US national security officials have raised red flags about the security of Huawei products, fearing that the Chinese government could demand access to communications stored on their devices or servers. The company has denied the charges, but the Pentagon took the rare step this year of banning sales of Huawei smartphones on US military bases.

Another firm with suspected close ties to the Chinese government, ZTE, is not believed to have had a relationship with Facebook, the person said. It does not appear that Facebook data was ever stored on Huawei servers, only directly on devices.

A spokesman for Huawei did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Facebook late Tuesday confirmed that it had worked with Huawei, as well as three other Chinese firms, Lenovo, OPPO and TCL. Facebook said those arrangements were “controlled from the get go – and we approved the Facebook experiences these companies built.”