Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) shares fell sharply in pre-market trading Monday after a New York Times report that linked to a major data privacy violation that could have affected as many as 50 million users.
Facebook claimed that the UK professor that used the social media network to gather information on nearly 300,000 users lied to the company when he shared the data for the 2016 US Presidential campaign.
Facebook insists that information was not hacked and that users signed up for his app with full consent. Facebook's primary trend has been in upside alignment since 2012.
Headline: Dow futures slide more than 100 points, as Facebook fall leads U.S. stocks lower
U.S. stock futures pointed to a drop at the open Monday, with Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB). shares leading the way lower as the social-media giant drew considerable flak for how it had managed users’ data.The Federal Reserve’s upcoming policy decision also could be helping to peel away investors from equities.