Britain's Information Commissioner welcomed Facebook's decision to end its partnerships with several large data brokers who help advertisers target people on the social network.

Facebook made the move after a scandal over how it handles personal information knocked billions of dollars off of its share price.

"I welcome Facebook's announcement that it will be shutting down its partner category service, using third party data to inform targeted advertising," said Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham in a statement on Thursday.

"I have been examining this service in the context of my wider investigation into the use of personal data for political purposes and had raised it with Facebook as a significant area of concern," she added.