Hong Kong (CNN Business) Facebook has admitted that it collected up to 1.5 million users' email contacts without their consent, in the latest privacy issue to hit the giant tech firm. Facebook said the issue began three years ago when it made changes to the step-by-step verification process users go through when signing up for an account on the platform. Prior to those changes, users were given the option to upload their email contact lists when opening an account to help them find friends already on Facebook. But in May 2016, Facebook removed language that explained users' contact lists could be uploaded to the company's servers when they signed up for an account. This meant that in some cases people's email contact lists were uploaded to Facebook without their knowledge or consent.

Source: CNN April 18, 2019 05:48 UTC