Does Facebook use smartphones to spy?

Media giant accused of collecting personal info of smartphone users via 3rd party apps

Cuomo orders an investigation to see whether the social media behemoth collects phone users’ private data via 3rd parties.

New York state agencies were tasked on Friday with looking into allegations that Facebook is collecting personal information from third-party applications on smartphones.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who directed the state Department of Financial Services and Department of State to investigate the matter, said the practices outlined in recent reporting by the Wall Street Journal “clearly violates Facebook’s own business terms” and called it an “outrageous abuse of privacy.”

“New Yorkers deserve to know that their personal information is safe, and we must hold internet companies — no matter how big — responsible for upholding the law and protecting the information of smartphone users,” Cuomo said in a statement.

While Facebook users already provide the company with personal information and their activities on the social media platform are tracked, the Journal report found that the tech giant is also obtaining information from separate applications that people are using on their smartphones.

“At least 11 popular apps, totaling tens of millions of downloads, have also been sharing sensitive data entered by users,” the Journal reported.

In addition to a state review, Cuomo is urging federal regulators to “put an end to this practice.”

Last month, the governor and state Attorney General Letitia James announced their plans to look into Apple’s alleged failure to warn consumers about a bug in its Facetime feature, and alleged the company was slow to address the resulting privacy issue.

▶ David.lombardo@timesunion. com 518-454-5427 @Poozer87 ■ ■