Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg this afternoon addressed the ongoing Cambridge Analytica situation, in which Cambridge Analytica used personal data acquired from Facebook in an illicit manner by a third-party app to create targeted political advertisements during the 2016 election.
Zuckerberg outlined a multi-step response that Facebook plans to take to prevent this situation from recurring, and one feature Facebook will add is a new tool at the top of the News Feed which will let people see which apps they've used.
Any app used on the Facebook platform has access to a user's personal data, so the Facebook tool will let people see which apps have their info and it will offer up an easy way to revoke permissions.
This tool is already available through Facebook's privacy settings, but the company plans to make it more accessible to all users.
Back in 2014, Facebook implemented changes to reduce the amount of data apps had access to (the CA data was pre-2014), and Facebook says it will now investigate all apps that had access to large amounts of information before the platform change.
We will conduct a full audit of any app with suspicious activity. We will ban any developer from our platform that does not agree to a thorough audit. And if we find developers that misused personally identifiable information, we will ban them and tell everyone affected by those apps.Zuckerberg also says Facebook plans to remove developers' access to data if an app hasn't been used in three months, and the amount of data provided to an app when a user signs in will be further restricted to name, profile photo, and email address. Access to posts or other private data will require users to explicitly approve the action.
The Cambridge Analytica scandal has resulted in a massive "Delete Facebook" movement from users concerned over the data Facebook collects and how it's used, and Facebook stock has sharply declined this week.
Facebook users who are not satisfied with Zuckerberg's response can permanently delete a Facebook account by clicking this link. Before doing so, it's recommended Facebook users download an archive of their content so no photos are lost.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Tag: Facebook
31 comments
Apple and Johnson & Johnson today announced a new study that aims to gather more information surrounding atrial fibrillation and other conditions tracked by iPhone and Apple Watch. The...
Apple has again declined a request to testify at a U.S. congressional hearing that is part of a wider investigation into Chinese influence on technology companies.
According to The...
Apple has now reopened 29 of its 42 retail locations in China, according to Apple's store websites in the country that were reviewed by Bloomberg. Many of Apple's stores in China have been...
People lead busy lives, and keeping track of everything that needs to be done in a day can be tough, which is why there are an endless number of to-do and productivity apps on the App Store.
...
Apple today shared two new "Technical Overview" white papers that take an extensive look into the technology and feature set of the Pro Display XDR and the Mac Pro.
Available as PDFs,...
In celebration of International Women's Day, set to take place on March 8, Apple is hosting a series of "She Creates" workshops that will be held at Apple retail stores from March 1 to...
It's hard to believe, but today marks the 20th birthday of MacRumors, which was founded on February 24, 2000, with articles starting just a few days later.
While longtime readers may be...
Apple's first Mac with a processor designed in house is set to be released during the first half of 2021, Apple analyst Ming Chi Kuo said in a note to investors this morning that was obtained by...
