Facebook was again forced to defend deals involving sharing users’ data, after The New York Times (NYT) alleged special terms offered to leading technology companies breached the social media giant’s own privacy terms.

The newspaper said agreements with giants including Microsoft, Netflix, Spotify, Amazon and Yahoo resulted in Facebook sharing more information than users had consented to.

Furthermore, with some of the practices continuing after Facebook claimed to have improved protections in the wake of a scandal involving Cambridge Analytica, NYT said the social media company could have breached an historic agreement with the Federal Trade Commission protecting users’ privacy.

Facebook responded swiftly, stating none of the “partnerships or features gave companies access to information without people’s permission”.

It said it struck deals enabling users to access their accounts through devices and platforms from “known integration partners” including Apple, Amazon, BlackBerry and Yahoo. Other agreements covering “popular apps” from Netflix, Pandora, Spotify and even NYT enabled “more social experiences”, by enabling users to see recommendations made by their connections.

Ime Archibong, VP of product partnerships at Facebook, in June said it was “not aware of any abuse” of deals with device manufacturers, after NYT reported the agreements had enabled vendors to access information on users who had declined to share data with third parties.

In its latest statement, Facebook said many of the partnerships have either already been closed, or are being wound-down.