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.
Not exact matches
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.
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.
Aiming to placate concerned
users and, more directly, potential regulators, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook would be limiting
developer access to
user data.
In 2013, a third - party app
developer named Aleksandr Kogan had
access to 50 million Facebook
users»
data for academic research, and without permission, he distributed it to a consulting firm with ties to the Trump Administration, Cambridge Analytica.
Facebook subsequently limited
developer access to
user data in 2014, turning off the Friends
data API that Cambridge Analytica now infamously used to gather its
data.
Although Zuckerberg talked a lot about protecting
user information, he did not mention why Facebook overlooked the potential problems inherent in giving
developers such broad
access to
user data in the first place.
On Wednesday, after admitting that its system could have allowed «malicious actors» to gather
data on most of its 2 billion
users, Facebook opted to immediately remove
access to several sets of
data previously accessible to
developers via Instagram and Facebook's APIs.
Friend was reportedly central to the development of Apple's healthcare frameworks, HealthKit, ResearchKit, and CareKit — frameworks designed to help researchers,
developers, and
users access and record health
data.
Zuckerberg also announced the social media giant would no longer allow app
developers to
access its
users»
data after three months of inactivity and it would reduce the amount of information people are required to hand over to third parties.
Facebook's policies previously allowed
developers to siphon off app
users» Facebook friends
data — though Facebook tightened up these permissions in 2014 — «to dramatically reduce
data access», as founder Mark Zuckerberg has now claimed — though evidently not dramatically enough for Mozilla.
Rather than taking it on trust that
developers given
access to masses of
user data will do the right thing.
Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg apologized on Wednesday for mistakes his company made in how it handled
data belonging to 50 million of its
users and promised tougher steps to restrict
developers»
access to such information.
Since the
data misuse scandal blew up last month, Facebook has said it is conducting a full audit of any apps which had
access to «a large amount» of information before it changed app permissions on its platform in mid 2015 to prevent
developers from being able to suck out
data on Facebook
users» friends.
Developers can no longer
access the
data about a
user's friends unless the friends also subscribe to that
developer's services.
The CEO vowed to police the platform more vigorously, and audit any
developer that may have gotten
access to
user data.
Specifically he said the company will restrict the
data that third - party
developers can
access to names, profile photos and email addresses, and will require
developers to sign a contract before being allowed to ask Facebook
users for rights to their posts.
The reason concerns the nature of how Facebook handled its
users»
data before rising privacy concerns prompted it to tighten its policies against what critics have called an egregious kind of abuse — allowing app
developers to gain
access to information not only on their customers but also on their customers» many Facebook friends.
But as Zuckerberg said, the most important change may have come in 2014, when Facebook limited
developers»
access to
data on
users» friends.
Facebook apps, like FarmVille, extend the platform's usability, but in installing them,
users often give third - party
developers like Kogan
access to a significant amount of their own
data.
Therefore, mobile app
developers can
access the targeted ad content delivered to its own app
users and then reverse engineer that
data to construct a profile of their app customer.
Cooper said BlackBerry Enterprise Application Middleware will include a set of APIs, libraries and server software that will make it easier for
developers to build «super apps» that can
access instant
data push and alerts, use efficient file transfers with enterprise applications, and make it easy to query a
user's device for geo - location, presence, current camera image, calendar availability, device type and much more.
Pradeo's Lab discovered that some game applications in the Google Play published by SEGA, the famous video games
developer and publisher,
access and leak
users» geolocation and device
data.
Evaluative content provided by reanalysis
developers, observationalists, and
users; and links to detailed
data descriptions,
data access methods, analysis and plotting tools, and dataset references are available.
But
developers do have
access to a map of a
user's face as part of the TrueDepth camera, as well as
data on up to 50 facial expressions that could tell a
developer how you raise your eyebrows or move your mouth.
Rather than taking it on trust that
developers given
access to masses of
user data will do the right thing.
The process by which Facebook monitors third party app
developers and tech providers who may have
access to Filipino
user data should also be looked into.
Zuckerberg said the company will remove a
developer's
access to
data if a
user hasn't made use of an app in three months.
These changes included giving
users the option to remove apps in bulk, restricting app
developers»
access to
user data, giving
users more visibility to their apps from News Feed and taking more actions to safeguard
user privacy.
But as with any Facebook
developer at the time, Kogan could
access data about those
users or their friends.
This kind of experiences were devised by Facebook, and
access to
user data was probably what lured in
developers and companies looking to turn the growing power of social media into revenue.
Users must consent to giving apps their
data, but sometimes — as in the case of Kogan's app —
developers can
access data about a consenting
user's friends, without getting those friends» consent.
Additionally, Facebook will add new restrictions on how
developers can
access data from Facebook
users.
He reiterated that he believed the company made big mistakes, first by allowing app
developers far too much
access to
user data in previous builds of the site, and later by blindly trusting that Cambridge Analytica and other companies involved would actually delete it just because they sent them a sternly worded letter.
Zuckerberg has been called to testify before Congress over the incident, and may find himself hard - pressed to explain why Facebook let app
developers access extensive
data on
users who hadn't willingly sharing it.
Facebook also limited a number of other entryways that
developers use to
access user data.
That means that while a single
user may have agreed to hand over their
data,
developers could also
access some
data about their friends.
Facebook has allowed third - party app
developers to
access some private
user data since May 2007, when it first opened the Facebook platform.
Whether
developers could gain
access to unauthorized
user data was a known issue that he and others questioned, Parakilas said.
The reason concerns the nature of how Facebook handled its
users»
data before rising privacy concerns prompted it to tighten its policies against what critics have called an egregious kind of abuse — allowing app
developers to gain
access to information not only on their customers but also on their customers» many Facebook friends.
«To promote the growth of a
developer ecosystem, Facebook provided third - party
developers access to their
users»
data as well,» Crandall noted.
Facebook launches the first version of Open Graph API, which allows outside app
developers to
access user data.
remove
developers»
access to a
user's
data if the
user hadn't activated the
developer's app for three months
Among the measures he said Facebook will take, the company will investigate and look for any potential abuses of personal
data by app
developers on its platform that have had
access to large amounts of
user data.
In his post Wednesday, Zuckerberg said Facebook will take steps to further restrict
developers»
access to
user data, including automatically removing
access for any app the
user hasn't opened in at least three months.
Yet it wasn't until 2014 that the company changed its
data - sharing policy that allowed
developers to
access not only the
data of a
user who downloaded or agreed to use their app, but also that of their friends.
Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg in 2007 invited outside
developers to build their businesses off Facebook's
data, giving them ready
access to the friend lists, «likes» and affinities that connect millions of Facebook
users.
The company also spent those days trying to devise a plan to secure
user data collected by
developers since Facebook's 2007 decision to provide outsiders
access to
user data to build apps and service, according to Ms. Sandberg and other people familiar with the company.
More restrictions will be placed on
developers»
access to
user data when those
users no longer engage with the apps.