Huawei denies collecting Facebook user data after becoming identified in social media site’s information scandal

Chinese phone maker Huawei said Wednesday it has never collected or stored Facebook user data, after the social media giant acknowledged it shared such information with Huawei and other manufacturers.

Huawei, a company flagged by US intelligence officials as a national security threat, was the latest device maker at the centre of a fresh wave of allegations over Facebook’s handling of private data.

Chinese firms Huawei, Lenovo, Oppo and TCL were among numerous handset makers that were given access to Facebook data in a “controlled” way approved by Facebook, the social media company’s vice-president of mobile partnerships, Francisco Varela, said Tuesday.

Varela’s statement came after The New York Times detailed how Facebook has given device makers deep access to data, including work history, relationship status and likes on device users and their friends.

In a follow-up report, the Times said the recipients of Facebook data included Huawei and other Chinese firms that have long been labelled a national security threat by Congress.

Facebook said it would end its data partnership with Huawei by the end of this week.

While Facebook is banned in China, the government could have had access to user profiles elsewhere, including those of Americans with Huawei phones.