Court documents unsealed last week, part of an anti-trust lawsuit filed by Maximilian Klein and Sarah Grabert, have sparked explosive claims and conversations about the extent of data sharing between two of the internet’s giants.
According to the documents, the plaintiffs claim that Meta and Netflix “enjoyed a special relationship” for nearly a decade, one that allowed Netflix not only to better tailor its ads within Facebook but also allegedly provided “bespoke access to private Facebook APIs.” These APIs, or application programming interfaces, supposedly gave Netflix “programmatic access to Facebook’s private messages inboxes,” in exchange for regular reports from Netflix on the performance of its recommendations within Facebook.
The alleged API at the center of these claims is the ‘Titan API,’ a private API that supposedly enabled a ‘whitelisted partner’ to access Facebook users’ ‘messaging app and non-app friends’.
The lawsuit also highlights Netflix’s co-founder Reed Hastings joined Facebook’s board of directors, suggesting a potential conflict of interest that might have influenced the shutdown of Facebook Watch, a competitor to Netflix.
Meta’s response has been firm. A Meta spokesperson refuted the allegations stating, “Meta didn’t share people’s private messages with Netflix.” They elaborated that the API agreement in question allowed users to communicate with their friends about Netflix content directly from the Netflix app, a practice described as “commonplace in the industry.” Meta expresses confidence that the facts will demonstrate the lawsuit’s claims to be “meritless.”
Despite Meta’s denial, the allegations come on the heels of past privacy controversies, including a fine imposed by Ireland for leaking user data and the Cambridge Analytica security breach case.
Although Messenger now implements end-to-end encryption as of December 2023, which would nullify such claims today.
Relevant articles:
– Facebook let Netflix peek into user DMs, explosive court docs claim, Tue, 02 Apr 2024 11:35 AM EDT
– Meta (again) denies that Netflix read users’ private Facebook messages, TechCrunch, Wed, 03 Apr 2024 03:09 AM GMT+8
– Meta let Netflix read Facebook users’ direct messages, court documents claim, Hindustan Times, Wed, 03 Apr 2024 12:12 AM IST
– Lawsuit claims Meta hobbled Facebook Watch to help Netflix, The Register, Tue, 02 Apr 2024 20:15:00 UTC