DealBook Briefing: How Facebook Let Gadgets Tap Your Data

 Dado Ruvic/Reuters

Facebook gave hardware firms deep access to your information

The technology giant struck data-sharing partnerships with at least 60 device makers — including Amazon, Apple, BlackBerry, Microsoft and Samsung — over the last decade. The company claimed that those deals were supposed to make it easier for people to use Facebook before its app was widely available on smartphones. But an NYT investigation found that the deals provided wide-ranging access to user data, and that many arrangements still exist, even though Facebook said that it had cut such off third-party access in 2015.More from Gabriel J.X. Dance, Nicholas Confessore and Michael LaForgia:Facebook allowed the device companies access to the data of users’ friends without their explicit consent, even after declaring that it would no longer share such information with outsiders. Some device makers could retrieve personal information even from users’ friends who believed they had barred any sharing.Facebook argues that these arrangements are “very different” to the ones with third-party app developers that were brought into focus by the Cambridge Analytica scandal. But the company is still struggling to repair its reputation, and this will do little to help matters.

More Facebook news: Ben Thompson, founder of the influential tech newsletter Stratechery, says Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram was the “greatest regulatory failure of the last 10 years.” And the company’s efforts to rein in fake political ads fell short in one California race.

Without a trade deal, millions of jobs could be on the line

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross ended a round of trade talks in Beijing yesterday. They didn’t go well. He left without announcing any deals, and Chinese officials refused to commit to buying more American goods without the Trump administration agreeing not to impose further tariffs on Chinese exports. (There was also no news on the fate of the telecom company ZTE.)All that makes the prospect of a trade war look increasingly likely. And, as the WSJ’s Harriet Torry notes, tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from Canada, the E.U. and Mexico — and any retaliation — could hurt the U.S. Economists told the WSJ that as many as three million jobs could be at risk.A big question: Will the (currently) strong domestic economy lead President Trump to think he can win the trade wars anyway?

The trade tug of war: With the Trump administration’s trade policies ricocheting between conciliatory and militant, leaders in other countries have one question: Who is calling the shots inside the White House? For Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, at least, that’s a careful balancing act.

Microsoft shows just how much it’s changed

A roughly $2 billion deal for the popular computer code repository GitHub, which Bloomberg reports could be announced today, would demonstrate how much the tech giant is shifting to fit the times.GitHub is the world’s biggest platform for programmers choosing to collaborate on coding projects — many of which are open-source projects, where software is shared freely. Microsoft made its name by selling proprietary software, and its former C.E.O. Steve Ballmer was famously critical of open-source software. The GitHub deal, if it happens, would show how Microsoft has changed under its current C.E.O., Satya Nadella, who has gone all-in on technology to help other companies build things, from cloud services to A.I.What’s in it for GitHub? There’s a chance to overcome internal turmoil, and the financial support of a deep-pocketed backer without the risk of an I.P.O.

• UniCredit of Italy is reportedly weighing a merger with Société Générale of France. (FT)

• Lyft is said to be in talks to buy Motivate, the owner of New York City’s bike-sharing program. (The Information)

• To win relief from U.S. sanctions, the Russian metal producer En+ has reportedly hired Rothschild to reduce Oleg Deripaska’s stake in the company below 50 percent. (FT)

• Discovery Communications will pay $2 billion for the international TV rights to the PGA Tour. (Bloomberg)

• Lawmakers are worried that President Trump will play chicken with the federal government’s funding deadline in September, risking a costly shutdown. (Axios)

• A White House plan to prop up coal and nuclear power plants could leave consumers footing the bill. (Bloomberg Opinion)

• The British government’s worst-case scenario for Brexit reportedly includes shortfalls of food and medicine within two weeks, if it leaves the E.U. without a deal. (Sunday Times, NYT)

• President Trump’s unprecedented tease of the jobs report last Friday will have traders scrutinizing his tweets for future announcements.

In recent years, the company has cast itself as a hardware company that makes money from gadgets, not ads. But the WSJ reports, citing people familiar with the matter, that may change:Over the past year, Apple has met with Snap Inc., Pinterest Inc. and other companies about participating in an Apple network that would distribute ads across their collective apps, the people said. Apple would share revenue with the apps displaying the ads, with the split varying from app to app, they said.If that’s accurate, Apple must tread carefully to avoid comparisons to Facebook.

What to expect at Apple’s developer conference: Predictions include tools to temper overuse of smartphones, new augmented reality features, simpler apps (with fewer bugs), more uses for the iPhone’s wireless payment chip, and new iPads. You can watch the keynote here, at 1 p.m. Eastern.

• Google won’t renew an A.I. contract with the Pentagon, after pushback from employees. (NYT)

• The tech industry is stepping back from this year’s election cycle. (NYT)

• Automatic software updates fixed the Tesla Model 3’s braking — but have caused other problems. (Verge)

• SpaceX promised to launch a pair of space tourists on a trip around the moon this year. That’s unlikely to happen. (WSJ)

• Germans spies will be allowed to continue monitoring the world’s biggest internet hub. (ZDNet)

The NYT profile of Mr. Sitrick, who briefly represented Harvey Weinstein as the #MeToo scandal broke, provides a fascinating insight into his business:One advantage to being retained by lawyers for a client rather than by the client himself is that Mr. Sitrick is technically a member of the legal team, and therefore protected by attorney-client privilege. And though he is not a lawyer, Mr. Sitrick views himself as a litigator in the court of public opinion. He also charges lawyerly rates — as much as $1,100 an hour.