NEW YORK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th April, 2019) The US state of New York launched an investigation into Facebook's alleged illegal gathering of user emails and contact data, the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a press release.
"Attorney General Letitia James today announced an investigation into Facebook's unauthorized collection of 1.5 million Facebook users' email contact databases," the release said on Thursday.
According to the release, the total figure of individuals whose information was improperly used by Facebook might be hundreds of millions, instead of 1.5 million claimed.
"While Facebook claims that 1.5 million contact databases were directly harvested by its email password verification process for new users, the total number of people whose information was improperly obtained may be hundreds of millions," the release said.
The New York Attorney General's office also said it is time that Facebook is held accountable for how it handles consumers' personal data.
US Federal prosecutors are conducting a criminal investigation into Facebook's policy of granting access to users' personal data for a number of big IT companies, according to media reports.
