This archive report was first published on 21 September 2019.
Facebook has taken a significant step in protecting user privacy by removing tens of thousands of apps involved in data mining from its platform. The move comes after the company was slapped with thousands of privacy glitch summons and legal suits.
According to Facebook's official blog, the removals are part of an ongoing investigation into how developers use data, which the company started after the Cambridge Analytica scandal in March 2018. The scandal, which uncovered how information from millions of Facebook profiles was used to influence opinion during Kenyan elections, Brexit, and the 2016 US election, resulted in political fallout, investigations, and a record fine of $5bn imposed against Facebook by the Federal Trade Commission in July 2019.
Under the agreement, Facebook will be held to a new set of requirements to bring oversight to app developers, requiring them to comply with policies and undergo annual certifications. The news also reveals that the platform is home to more problematic apps than previously thought.
Facebook's Vice President of Product Partnerships, Ime Archibong, stated, 'We promised then that we would review all of the apps that had access to large amounts of information before we changed our platform policies in 2014. It has involved hundreds of people: attorneys, external investigators, data scientists, engineers, policy specialists, platform partners, and other teams across the company. Our review helps us to better understand patterns of abuse in order to root out bad actors among developers.'
Facebook has also taken legal action against several companies, including Rankwave, LionMobi, and JediMobi, for violating its policies. The company has also banned an app called myPersonality that refused to comply with its audit and reportedly shared information with researchers and companies with only limited protections in place.
Facebook's investigation is ongoing, and the company has expanded the team dedicated to investigating these violations. It has also restricted the APIs used to connect to Facebook and set more specific policies around developing on Facebook.
As Ime Archibong noted, 'As each month goes by, we have incorporated what we learned and re-examined the ways that developers can build using our platforms. We've also improved the ways we investigate and enforce against potential policy violations that we find.'
