An investigation by the New York Times has disclosed new details about ways the social media company shared access to user data with other tech firms, including Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Netflix, Spotify and Yandex. The article also gives examples of what kind of data was shared with the firms. These included the ability to read users' private messages and to see the names, contact details and activities of their friends. Facebook defended its behaviour and claims it never gave others access to personal data without people's permission and had seen no evidence that the data had been misused.