WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior U.S. senator said on Thursday that he has asked Google parent Alphabet Inc and Twitter Inc for information about any data sharing agreements they have with Chinese vendors, after Facebook Inc this week disclosed such partnerships with several Chinese companies.
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Google is pictured during the Viva Tech start-up and technology summit in Paris, France, May 25, 2018. REUTERS/Charles Platiau
Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat who is vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he had written to the companies on Thursday and made the letters public.
Facebook said on Tuesday that it had data sharing partnerships with at least four Chinese companies including mobile device manufacturer Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL], the world’s third largest smartphone maker, which has come under scrutiny from U.S. intelligence agencies.
FILE PHOTO: People holding mobile phones are silhouetted against a backdrop projected with the Twitter logo in this illustration picture taken in Warsaw September 27, 2013. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo
Alphabet had previously announced strategic partnerships with Huawei and mobile device maker Xiaomi, as well as with Chinese technology platform Tencent.
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(2 Images)Warner said in a statement that since 2012 “the relationship between the Chinese Communist Party and equipment makers like Huawei and ZTE Corp has been an area of national security concern.” ZTE is China’s No. 2 telecommunications equipment maker. Warner asked Alphabet Chief Executive Larry Page if it had “third party partnerships” with ZTE, Lenovo or TCL and if it conducted audits to ensure that the companies were properly handling consumer data. He asked Twitter Chief Executive Jack Dorsey if the company had relationships with Huawei as well. Huawei is the world’s third-largest smartphone maker. Google said in an emailed statement on Thursday,Read more from our friends at Reuters:
