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Facebook let Netflix see user DMs, quit streaming to keep Netflix happy

arstechnica.com

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Re: Facebook let Netflix see user DMs, quit streaming to keep Netflix happy

#21

Post by tsunamihippo »

The article skips a lot of context to make it sound significantly worse than reality. Facebook didn't just randomly give Netflix access to everyone's messages. Specific user would need to purposefully log in to the Netflix app with their Facebook account in order to grant Netflix access to the chat functionality (intended to send movie recommendations to Facebook friends inside the Netflix app).

https://about.fb.com/news/2018/12/facebooks-messaging-partne...

Disclaimer: I work at Facebook but not on messaging or anything related to this article.

Re: Facebook let Netflix see user DMs, quit streaming to keep Netflix happy

#22

Post by rgbrenner »

mcherm wrote: post #6

I'm not clear whether I understood what the article is claiming. It's clear they claim that Meta shared customer's direct messages with a business partner without notifying the individuals who sent and received the messages. It also SOUNDED to me like the article was claiming they did so AFTER Meta introduced "end-to-end encryption" (which would ALSO mean that they were lying about offering end-to-end encryption). Am…

FB has supported e2e messaging since 2016, but it wasn't the default until 4 months ago (Dec 2023). So likely very few users had it enabled (much less on both ends needed to protect a message from FB).

The netflix deal starts in 2013. Even after 2016, e2e would just mean netflix would get slightly fewer messages.

So I don't see anything that would necessarily indicate FB is lying about e2e.

Re: Facebook let Netflix see user DMs, quit streaming to keep Netflix happy

#23

Post by notnmeyer »

tsunamihippo wrote: post #21

The article skips a lot of context to make it sound significantly worse than reality. Facebook didn't just randomly give Netflix access to everyone's messages. Specific user would need to purposefully log in to the Netflix app with their Facebook account in order to grant Netflix access to the chat functionality (intended to send movie recommendations to Facebook friends inside the Netflix app). https://about.fb.com/…

so you agree then that “private” messages aren’t private on fb? i don’t know how to interpret this in a way that isn’t terrible for fb users…

Re: Facebook let Netflix see user DMs, quit streaming to keep Netflix happy

#25

Post by scarface_74 »

notnmeyer wrote: post #23
tsunamihippo wrote: post #21

The article skips a lot of context to make it sound significantly worse than reality. Facebook didn't just randomly give Netflix access to everyone's messages. Specific user would need to purposefully log in to the Netflix app with their Facebook account in order to grant Netflix access to the chat functionality (intended to send movie recommendations to Facebook friends inside the Netflix app). https://about.fb.com/…

so you agree then that “private” messages aren’t private on fb? i don’t know how to interpret this in a way that isn’t terrible for fb users…

If you give access to your chat as the parent poster claims, why are you surprised that Netflix has access?

Re: Facebook let Netflix see user DMs, quit streaming to keep Netflix happy

#26

Post by airtonix »

notnmeyer wrote: post #23
tsunamihippo wrote: post #21

The article skips a lot of context to make it sound significantly worse than reality. Facebook didn't just randomly give Netflix access to everyone's messages. Specific user would need to purposefully log in to the Netflix app with their Facebook account in order to grant Netflix access to the chat functionality (intended to send movie recommendations to Facebook friends inside the Netflix app). https://about.fb.com/…

so you agree then that “private” messages aren’t private on fb? i don’t know how to interpret this in a way that isn’t terrible for fb users…

not if you log in to enable and agree to share such messages. no.

Re: Facebook let Netflix see user DMs, quit streaming to keep Netflix happy

#27

Post by scarface_74 »

crmd wrote: post #24

This is one of the litany of bad things that happens when antitrust precident is ignored and we allow a small number of companies to become large enough to dominate the economy.

So are you claiming Netflix is a “monopoly” and if so, how would you break them up? The same question for Facebook.

This is a case of possible “collusion” not anti trust

Re: Facebook let Netflix see user DMs, quit streaming to keep Netflix happy

#28

Post by bluefirebrand »

scarface_74 wrote: post #25
notnmeyer wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

so you agree then that “private” messages aren’t private on fb? i don’t know how to interpret this in a way that isn’t terrible for fb users…

If you give access to your chat as the parent poster claims, why are you surprised that Netflix has access?

You would expect that giving permission to send specific pre-approved messages does not imply permission to read everything you've ever said to anyone or they've said to you..

Right?

Re: Facebook let Netflix see user DMs, quit streaming to keep Netflix happy

#29

Post by noobface »

cyost wrote: post #5
advael wrote: post #4

Gonna give it like two weeks before tech bosses posit that users don't have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their private messages

Isn't that why they got renamed to "direct" messages basically industry-wide?

Bleak and rings true. The worst origin for speculation turned fact.

Re: Facebook let Netflix see user DMs, quit streaming to keep Netflix happy

#30

Post by hipadev23 »

scarface_74 wrote: post #25
notnmeyer wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

so you agree then that “private” messages aren’t private on fb? i don’t know how to interpret this in a way that isn’t terrible for fb users…

If you give access to your chat as the parent poster claims, why are you surprised that Netflix has access?

Because it’s not a reasonable expectation that your private messages would be shared with an advertising partner when you link your account to it, and “give access” is rarely a step that your average user actually reads, much like agreeing to TOS’s upon signup.

And catering to the average user’s expectation is what should dictate policy, not a “technically we have permission” caveat.

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