Agada David Odo
HIGHLIGHTS
- Facebook Says It Has Suspended Tens Of Thousands Of Apps.
- 400 Developers’ Apps Were Removed.
- Some Apps Were Removed For Being Inactive Or Were In Testing While Some Violated Facebook’s Policies.
- Some Apps improperly obtained user data, installed malware, and committed other offenses.
The social media company that has been under intense public criticism for not adequately safeguarding the personal information of its 2 billion and more users has suspended tens of thousands of apps for a variety of violations, including improperly sharing private data.
Nowadays that Facebook may not be a prime example of how a social media company is supposed to protect user’s data privacy, it seems to be trying its best to do the right thing. In a post published on Friday, Facebook VP of Product Partnerships Ime Archibong said the move was part of an ongoing review that began in March 2018,
The company started an App Developer investigation to review numerous apps on its platform after the whole Cambridge Analytica fiasco had happened. While the inspection is said to be still ongoing, Facebook has now announced that it has inspected “millions of apps” and has suspended tens of thousands of them for a number of reasons. These apps are said to be associated with about 400 developers.
Many banned apps were apparently not live on the platform and didn’t pose any threat to users since they were being tested. However, some apps are said to be banned for either sharing inappropriately data that was obtained by Facebook, or making it publicly available without protecting the user’s identity, or were in violation of the company’s policies. Facebook has also provided examples of some apps that are banned due to improper data usage.
The app called myPersonality is said to have been banned for sharing information with researchers and companies with limited protection in place and refusing to participate in a Facebook audit.
The social media platform has also taken legal action against some apps developers. It filed a lawsuit against a South Korean data analytics company Rankwave that didn’t cooperate with the company’s investigation and it also sued LionMobi and JediMobi companies that used their apps to infect a user’s phone. Soon after Cambridge-Analytica, Facebook also sued two Ukrainian men for allegedly scraping user data illegally.
All of the aforementioned announcements come via Facebook’s VP of Product Partnerships, Ime Archibong. Archibong also states that the company is learning more from its ongoing investigation and is making efforts to have a tighter hold on how developers access user’s data. While Facebook is aiming to place user privacy first with its stricter rules and new guidelines.
Now would be the best time for readers who use Facebook to review the apps they’ve installed and delete any app that may request large amounts of data or don’t provide a meaningful benefit.
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