A recent Facebook blog post claims that hundreds of apps have just lost the ability to access Facebook’s user data.
The post — dated July 31, and written by Ime Achiborg, VP of Product Partnerships — explained that these apps were deactivated due to the fact that on March, the company announced that all apps using Facebook’s API would now have to provide more detailed information for them to remain active on the site and to have access to users’ personal data. These apps had until August 1st to provide the required information.
The post continued by explaining that all apps, even the ones that were approved, will be submitted to periodical reviews, even though they’d still have access to Facebook’s API. Developers of the app would have a limited amount of time to respond and to provide the required information.
Our goal with all these changes is to ensure that we better protect people’s Facebook information while also enabling developers to build great social experiences.
After Facebook’s troublesome year, the company has faced backlash from all directions and have been forced to up their security measures while assuring users that their private information is not being mishandled. Even though the company has made all sorts of statements and invested a lot of money on ads, people can’t seem to trust them anymore. A 2018 study conducted by the Ponemon Institute claims that only 27 percent of people think that Facebook would protect their data. In 2017, that number was much higher. Back then, 79 percent of users trusted Facebook with their information.
