Facebook has suspended Boston-based analytics firm Crimson Hexagon from accessing users’ data.

In the months since the revelation of widespread use of improperly obtained Facebook data, the company has been dealing with increased scrutiny over how third-party firms use its data.

This week, reports say Facebook has suspended Crimson Hexagon, which counts a Russian firm with ties to the Kremlin among its clients.

“We don't allow developers to build surveillance tools using information from Facebook or Instagram,” Ime Archibong, Facebook's vice president of product partnerships, told US reporters.

“We take these allegations seriously, and we have suspended these apps while we investigate.”

Facebook said it has not found any evidence that the firm obtained Facebook or Instagram information inappropriately.

Crimson Hexagon’s website says it has a dataset of over 1 trillion consumer conversations from social media, forums, blogs and reviews.

Crimson Hexagon CTO Chris Bingham has issued a statement saying the company “abides completely” by the rules of social media sites.

“Crimson Hexagon only collects publicly available social media data that anyone can access,” he said.

“The real conversation is not about a particular social media analytics provider, or even a particular social network like Facebook. It is about the broader role and use of public online data in the modern world.”

Mr Bingham said Crimson Hexagon’s work is very different to that of Cambridge Analytica.

“Cambridge Analytica raised alarm surrounding the potential for misuse of private Facebook data, but public data appears to be coming under increased scrutiny as well,” he wrote.

“To be abundantly clear: What Cambridge Analytica did was explicitly illegal, while the collection of public data is completely legal and sanctioned by the data providers that Crimson engages with, including Twitter and Facebook, among others.”

Mr Bingham says Crimson Hexagon's clients, which include government customers, are looking for large-scale consumer trends and preferences.

“Government entities that leverage the Crimson Hexagon platform do so for the same reasons as many of our other non-government customers: a broad-based and aggregate understanding of the public's perception, preferences and sentiment about matters of concern to them,” he wrote.