Last night, Facebook rolled out a raft of new restrictions to stop third - party app developers
accessing user data — but the genie is out of the bottle.
The news came as Facebook announced further restrictions to stop third party app developers
accessing user data on the platform.
The main changes are to its backend application programming interfaces (API) that will restrict outside developers from
accessing user data collected through Facebook events, groups and pages.
Facebook is implementing changes that would restrict third - party apps from
accessing user data.
It's the second product announcement today, following news that Facebook would stop apps from
accessing user data if they haven't been launched within 90 days.
• The NSA has the ability to
access user data for most major smartphones on the market, including Apple iPhones, BlackBerrys, and Google Android phones.
The issue at play is Facebook's original application programming interface, or API, which allows third - party developers to use Facebook's platform and
access some user data as long as those users give permission.
The company
accesses user data to connect users with drivers, but it is unknown what else the company does with user data.
Customers are asking important questions: Why should they allow companies to track their activities and
access their user data?
Facebook has not always made it easy to export user information, and when start - ups like Power Ventures have sought to
access user data with consent to power services that compete with the social network, Facebook aggressively combatted these features through technical measures and legal action under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
Hackers were able to
access the user data on an Amazon Web Services account and managed to scrape names and email addresses for millions of users.
Why should they allow you to track their activities and
access their user data?
Most apps have minimal HTTPS encryption, making it easy to
access user data.
That means that attackers with this vulnerability alone can not
access user data beyond what the browser can access which is mostly the media card and not emails or phone calls like iOS and Android.
The flaw opens the door to hackers looking to
access user data that would otherwise be protected.
Like most online services, we have a small number of employees who must be able to
access user data for the reasons stated in our privacy policy (e.g., when legally required to do so).
Unfortunately that's a bit of a black box — Amazon surely stores user data, but exactly what data is unknown — and there are countless examples of tech companies not complying with helping the government
access user data, the most prominent involving Apple and the 2015 San Bernardino shooting.
Facebook also limited a number of other entryways that developers use to
access user data.
Facebook launches the first version of Open Graph API, which allows outside app developers to
access user data.
McCain said that there was a strong equivalence between how the Obama and Trump campaigns
accessed user data on Facebook.
Mr Collins also criticised Facebook, saying his committee had «repeatedly» asked the firm about how companies
accessed user data from the website and if information had been taken without users» consent.
He said Facebook would no longer allow app developers to
access its users data after three months of inactivity and would reduce the information people are required to give app developers to name, email and profile photo.
Beyond the investigation, Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post that the company plans to further tighten how developers can
access user data, so if, say, you downloaded an app three years ago and haven't touched it in more than three months, developers will no longer have access to your data.
Zuckerberg's comments reflected the first time he apologized following an uproar over how Facebook allowed third - party developers to
access user data.
For example, it aims to make money from studios who want to target its customers with their marketing efforts, or
access user data to learn about trends; it's taking a cut of ticket sales and concessions at some theaters; it has begun to acquire movies; and it hopes that eventually, users will slow down their movie - going to their usual once per month (or less), after the initial rush of having an all - you - can - watch subscription wears off.
He also says Facebook must build accountability systems to demonstrate user consent, and develop controls to audit third parties when they do
access user data, as well as provide remedies when enforcement is needed.Â
The interesting bit in the apology is where Facebook says «We expect there are others,» referring to apps which might be violating the company's terms and regulations of how to
access user data.
Sandberg says Facebook should have conducted an audit after learning that a political consultancy's improperly
accessed user data nearly three years ago.
Asked about those tweets and whether he would consider taking legal action against any companies that illicitly
accessed user data, Mr Zuckerberg said Facebook would allow the UK's Information Commissioner to investigate first but would «take legal action if we need to do that to protect people's information».
Zuckerberg posted a statement on Facebook in which he outlined several steps the social media platform would take to fix the mistakes that allowed Cambridge Analytica to violate company policy and
access user data, including a full forensic audit.
On top of that, apps will have to meet strict standards before they can
access any user data, and no app will be allowed to ask about a user's religious views, political views, relationship details, work history, or any other personal details.
First, Zuckerberg claims, Facebook will be auditing thousands of apps which may have improperly
accessed user data.
Not exact matches
When a smart phone can sync directly with a desktop, the
user doesn't have to worry about transferring the
data to
access it.
Since Woebot functions through Messenger, Facebook would still have
access to
users» conversations (even if Woebot itself tries to protect the
data on its end), which is why the company is trying to raise money for an independent app.
AT&T already has
access to a lot of
user data.
Scanadu will also have anonymized
access to all of its
users» health
data, which can be used for epidemiology — the study of the patterns of health and disease in defined geographic areas.
I find that
access to
data points on new
users, new accounts, assets, funding, and so on gives the entire team insight into our customers»
user experience.
We give our
users tools that everyone can
access, like Google Dashboard and Ad Preferences Manager, which explain, in plain language, what
data we collect and provide choices each
user can make about their individual preferences.
The coming mobile
data revolution will change how consumers
access data and create new opportunities for
users in developing countries.
Along with the contact option, business profiles have
access to analytics, or as they call them, Insights, giving
users access to impression and engagement
data.
Laptops, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), and Blackberries (wireless cell phone and PDA units) use wireless
data transfer technologies to provide
users with almost instant
access to information stored on a company's computer networks and servers from just about anywhere within reach of a cell phone tower or wireless Internet transmitter.
The tool also offers
users access to in - depth
data analytics that can be used to analyze and adjust marketing strategies.
Not only is this a great way of backing up
data, but it also allows
users to
access the files remotely from any location in the world.
If you need more advanced document management services, look for hosted solutions that provide automatic e-mail notification in the event of any changes,
user authentication for enhanced security, digital signatures, targeted and custom solutions for your industry, multimedia filing so that you can intelligently integrate video, images, and text - based documents, and enhanced
data encryption for more secure emailing and remote document
access.
But the cost of the phone isn't the point — if Amazon gets
data on
users» spending habits and preferential
access to that spending, then the R&D costs will be well worth it.
If the
user gives InVenture
access to her or his mobile phone, the company can gather something like 10,000 unique pieces of
data on the potential customer.
The acquisition will certainly give Facebook
access to a lot of valuable
user data.
It comes amid increasing concerns about how social media websites and messaging apps are storing
users»
data, which could be vulnerable and
accessed by hackers.
The FTC will also investigate whether Facebook allowed the
data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica
access to some Facebook
users»
data in violation of its policies, according to the reports.
For Facebook
users who haven't used an app in three months or more, Zuckerberg says the app developers will no longer have
access to their
data.