Facebook reportedly delays home speaker amid data scandal
The social-networking giant was expected to unveil smart home speakers at a developer conference in May, Bloomberg reports.
Facebook will reportedly delay the unveiling of new smart home products, in part because of negative public sentiment arising from revelations about the social media giant's data privacy policies, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.
The products, connected speakers with digital-assistant and video-chat capabilities, were expected to be unveiled at Facebook's major developer conference in May, sources told the news outlet. The products are currently undergoing scrutiny to ensure they don't mishandle user data, Bloomberg reported.
Facebook has been rumored to join the fierce battle raging to dominate your home and connected devices, following in the footsteps of Amazon , Google and Apple . Devices tend to be a standalone speaker with a voice-operated assistant inside answering your questions about the weather, buying products online and playing your favorite songs.
But concern about how Facebook collects and uses personal data appears to have put that effort on hold. Facebook disclosed earlier this month that information from 50 million of accounts on the social network was used without people's permission by Cambridge Analytica, a digital consultancy hired by the Trump presidential campaign.
Facebook found out about the infraction in 2015 but didn't inform the public. Instead, the company demanded that all the parties involved destroy the information. But now there are reports that not all the data was deleted.
Facebook users have also sued the company for allegedly violating their privacy by logging histories of their phone calls and text messages. The social-networking giant acknowledged it had been logging some Android users' call and text history, but noted it was with their permission.
Facebook didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
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