Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Leveraged User Data to Help Friends and Punish Rivals

Facebook's executive team, including Mark Zuckerberg, used the data of Facebook users as leverage over partner companies, according to leaked emails, webchats, presentations, spreadsheets, and more obtained by NBC News.

More than 4,000 pages of leaked documents from 2011 to 2015 provide insight into how Facebook was taking advantage of user data while publicly promising to protect user privacy before and after its 2015 move to end broad access to user data.

facebooksecurity
The documents were sent to NBC News by British journalist Duncan Campbell and originated from a 2015 lawsuit filed against Facebook by startup Six4Three after Facebook cut back on third-party data access. Six4Three had an app called Pikinis that let users find photos of their friends in swimsuits that was not able to function after Facebook's data changes.

Facebook has claimed that it limited data access to protect user privacy and to keep its users safe from companies that mishandled data, but internally, privacy was not the concern Facebook was addressing when making the move. Instead, the documents suggest Facebook ended access to user data to give it more power over third-party apps and partner companies.

However, among the documents leaked, there's very little evidence that privacy was a major concern of Facebook's, and the issue was rarely discussed in the thousands of pages of emails and meeting summaries. Where privacy is mentioned, it is often in the context of how Facebook can use it as a public relations strategy to soften the blow of the sweeping changes to developers' access to user data. The documents include several examples suggesting that these changes were designed to cement Facebook's power in the marketplace, not to protect users.

Companies favored by Facebook were given access to the data of Facebook users through exclusive deals struck before the data changes, while rival companies or apps were denied access. Amazon, for example, was provided with "extended access" to Facebook user data because of its spending on Facebook advertising and its Fire phone partnership, while data was restricted from other apps.

Facebook believed app developers were getting more value from Facebook user data than Facebook was getting from app developers, a factor that led Facebook to limit access to user data and consider other monetization tactics.

According to NBC News and previously leaked documents, Facebook mulled ways for third-party apps to provide monetary compensation for user data, ranging from direct payment to advertising spending and data sharing setups, but ultimately decided on providing access to app developers who were "personal friends" of Zuckerberg or who spent money on Facebook and shared their own data.

Facebook has previously confirmed that it considered charging companies for access to user data, but has downplayed the discussions as a mere consideration of different business models. Approximately 400 pages of the 4,000 that NBC News obtained have been leaked previously, and Facebook has called these past documents "cherry-picked" and "misleading."

NBC News says that the new documents suggest charging for user data was more than a cursory exploration of different business models, as Facebook discussed plans to sell user data for years. Senior executives, including Zuckerberg, COO Sheryl Sandberg, and CPO Chris Cox were in favor of selling data.

In emails to one of his friends in 2012, Zuckerberg explained that without limiting access to Facebook data, Facebook wouldn't have "any way to get developers to pay [Facebook] at all." He also said that he didn't feel that data leaks were a risk factor.

"I'm generally skeptical that there is as much data leak strategic risk as you think," he wrote in the email to Lessin. "I think we leak info to developers but I just can't think of any instances where that data has leaked from developer to developer and caused a real issue for us."

Facebook considered 100 deals with app developers to figure out the "real market value" of Facebook user data to learn "what developers would actually pay."

Zuckerberg ultimately decided not to charge outright for data access, but before implementing the sweeping changes in 2015, he explained in 2012 that access to Facebook data should be contingent on developers sharing "social content" generated by their apps back to Facebook and paying for advertising.

According to NBC News, the newly leaked documents could further an antitrust case against Facebook by establishing the value that Facebook placed on user data.

But if regulators can show that users were paying for access to Facebook with their personal data, and that Facebook valued that data as leverage against competitors, that could expose Facebook to an antitrust complaint, said Jason Kint, CEO of Digital Content Next, a trade association representing digital publishers.

"These emails clearly establish the value of consumer data to Facebook," Kint said. "It shows that it is not free."

The full exploration into Facebook's data sharing practices and additional details gleaned from the leaked documents can be read over at NBC News and is well worth checking out for anyone interested in Facebook's motivations.

Popular Stories

iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Coming Next Week With These New Features for Your iPhone

Friday February 14, 2025 6:18 am PST by
The first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner, and the update is expected to include many new features and changes. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects the iOS 18.4 beta to be released by next week. Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far. Apple Intelligence for Siri Siri is expected to get several enhancements powered by Apple Intelligence on iOS...
iPhone SE 4 Thumb 1

'New' iPhone SE Product Listing Appears on French Website

Wednesday February 12, 2025 6:49 am PST by
As the wait continues for Apple's long-rumored, fourth-generation iPhone SE, French electronics retailer Boulanger has prematurely published a product listing for a "new" model of the iPhone SE. The placeholder page says the device is "coming soon," but it offers no further information, and the price shown is obviously not real. The listing was spotted by a reader of the French technology...
apple launch feb 2025 alt

What to Expect From the 'Apple Launch' Next Week

Thursday February 13, 2025 11:48 am PST by
Apple has yet to announce any new devices this year, but that could change starting next week. Apple CEO Tim Cook today said to "get ready" for a "launch" on Wednesday, February 19. "Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," said Cook, in a social media post. The post includes an #AppleLaunch hashtag, along with a short video featuring an animated Apple logo inside of a circle....
apple launch feb 2025

Tim Cook Teases an 'Apple Launch' Next Wednesday

Thursday February 13, 2025 8:07 am PST by
In a social media post today, Apple CEO Tim Cook teased an upcoming "launch" of some kind scheduled for Wednesday, February 19. "Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," he said, with an #AppleLaunch hashtag. The post includes a short video with an animated Apple logo inside a circle. Cook did not provide an exact time for the launch, or share any other specific details, so...
iPhone 17 Pro Render Front Page Tech

iPhone 17 Pro With All-New Camera Bar Design Allegedly Revealed

Thursday February 13, 2025 5:49 pm PST by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro will feature three rear cameras arranged in a familiar triangular layout, but the cameras will be housed in an all-new rectangular camera bar with rounded corners, according to YouTube channel Front Page Tech. iPhone 17 Pro camera design render created by Asher for Front Page Tech In a video uploaded today, Front Page Tech host Jon Prosser said the camera ...
M4 Mac mini Apple Video

Apple's Refurbished Mac Mini Pricing Has a Problem

Thursday February 13, 2025 6:20 am PST by
Apple this week began selling refurbished Mac mini models with the M4 chip for the first time, but this has led to a pricing conundrum. In the United States, Apple is offering a refurbished Mac mini with the base M4 chip, 256GB of storage, 16GB of RAM, and Gigabit Ethernet for $509, down from $599 new. This is the standard 15% discount that Apple offers on refurbished Macs. The issue is...
M4 mini Glowing Blue

Apple Begins Selling Refurbished M4 Macs

Wednesday February 12, 2025 11:35 am PST by
Apple today added MacBook Pro and Mac mini models with M4 series chips to its certified refurbished store in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland for the first time since the computers were introduced in October 2024. Some refurbished MacBook Pro models with M4 chips are also available in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and select other European countries. ...
iPhone 16 Apple Store

iPhone 17 in New Sizes This Year: What to Know

Thursday February 13, 2025 2:45 am PST by
Last year, Apple tweaked iPhone 16 Pro screen sizes to make them bigger than 2023's iPhone 15 Pro models, and this year we are also expecting a change in the size of the displays in the iPhone 17 lineup. Here's what we know. Standard iPhone 17 Apple could introduce a new display size for the standard iPhone 17 model in 2025. The iPhone 17 could measure in at 6.3 inches, up from 6.1 inches,...
Apple Ad on X

Apple Resumes Advertising on X

Wednesday February 12, 2025 2:18 pm PST by
Apple this month started advertising on X for the first time in more than a year. The company had stopped advertising on the social media platform in November 2023 following controversial remarks made by its owner Elon Musk. For example, the @Apple account is running an ad promoting Safari's privacy features. The ad was spotted by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The @AppleTV account has a...

Top Rated Comments

B4U Avatar
76 months ago
The sheeple using this crap need to learn the truth the hard way.
This cancer to human kind needs to be gotten rid of once and for all.
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bchery21 Avatar
76 months ago
I deleted my facebook account a long time ago. Was hard at the time since all my friends were still using it but so happy I did it (in light of all this).
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MyMacintosh Avatar
76 months ago
*obligatory "Facebook is evil and has a business model of selling your data for profit" comment*
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gugy Avatar
76 months ago
I quit Facebook a few months back. So glad I did. After all this time I went back to check on and what I notice was a complete waste of time and so many people showing only their best story. It should be called Fakebook.
I don't miss it at all. It's a great feeling leaving that behind.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AngerDanger Avatar
76 months ago
Facebook was taking advantage of user data while publicly promising to protect user privacy
I'm reminded of the village wolf promising a safety-focussed field for sheep to graze. Dunno why I thought of that…



Attachment Image
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jimbobb24 Avatar
76 months ago
The title is misleading and suggests he used the data in a personal way (Friends). Nothing new here. Facebook and Google sell you. We finally created a surveillance state that rivals the Socialist dictatorship states and we did it voluntarily.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)