Facebook relaxed its own rules to give these 61 companies special access to user data

Reuters

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook.

• Facebook told US lawmakers that while it imposed new data-sharing restrictions on the majority of app developers in May 2015, 61 companies received a special "one-time" extension.
• The list of companies includes Nike, Spotify, and UPS. It is unclear why these companies, in particular, received the extension.
• In addition, Facebook found five companies which theoretically could have accessed restricted friends' data as a result of beta tests.
• The revelation comes after the Cambridge Analytica scandal in which the data of 87 million Facebook users was compromised.

Facebook has confessed to breaking its own rules to give 61 companies special access to user data.

In a 747-page document handed to the US House of Representatives' Energy and Commerce Committee on Friday, Facebook said app developers could request Facebook data including name, gender, birthdate, location, photos, and page likes.

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In April 2014, Facebook introduced a new, more restricted API (application program interface) which required that new apps go through a review and approval process, and prevented new apps from accessing friends' data without review. It also gave users more granular controls over what data an app operating on the new platform could access.

Most already-existing apps on the platform had until May 2015 to comply with these changes before being migrated to the new API, and becoming subject to the new review and approval process. But 61 companies were given an extension of "less than six months" after the May deadline to come into compliance.

Here is the full list of firms given special treatment:

1. ABCSocial, ABC Television Network
2. Actiance
3. Adium
4. Anschutz Entertainment Group
5. AOL
6. Arktan / Janrain
7. Audi
8. biNu
9. Cerulean Studios
10. Coffee Meets Bagel
11. DataSift
12. Dingtone
13. Double Down Interactive
14. Endomondo
15. Flowics, Zauber Labs
16. Garena
17. Global Relay Communications
18. Hearsay Systems
19. Hinge
20. HiQ International AB
21. Hootsuite
22. Krush Technologies
23. LiveFyre / Adobe Systems
24. Mail.ru
25. MiggoChat
26. Monterosa Productions Limited
27. never.no AS
28. NIKE
29. Nimbuzz
30. NISSAN MOTOR CO / Airbiquity Inc.
31. Oracle
32. Panasonic
33. Playtika
34. Postano, TigerLogic Corporation
35. Raidcall
36. RealNetworks, Inc.
37. RegED / Stoneriver RegED
38. Reliance/Saavn
39. Rovi
40. Salesforce/Radian6
41. SeaChange International
42. Serotek Corp.
43. Shape Services
44. Smarsh
45. Snap
46. Social SafeGuard
47. Socialeyes LLC
48. SocialNewsdesk
49. Socialware / Proofpoint
50. SoundayMusic
51. Spotify
52. Spredfast
53. Sprinklr / Sprinklr Japan
54. Storyful Limited / News Corp
55. Tagboard
56. Telescope
57. Tradable Bits, TradableBits Media Inc.
58. UPS
59. Vidpresso
60. Vizrt Group AS
61. Wayin

Serotek, an accessibility app for blind and visually impaired people, received an eight-month extension.

It is not clear in the document exactly why these companies received extra time to adapt to the new restrictions. Business Insider has contacted Facebook for comment.

Facebook also admitted that it discovered five companies could have theoretically gained access to restricted friends' data as the result of a beta test. Those identified were:

1. Activision / Bizarre Creations
2. Fun2Shoot
3. Golden Union Co.
4. IQ Zone / PicDial
5. PeekSocial