July 15, 2020

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Author: Amanda Johnson

Another Privacy Issue of Facebook. Is There Any Solution?

Facebook failed. Again. It was recently revealed that FB has a privacy issue that led to the exposure of users’ data to thousands of apps even after the access expiration.

That issue has already been discussed back in 2014 and 2018 when Facebook let users pick up what personal information they would like to provide: email address or Dob and decided to remove apps’ access to users’ data after the 90 days of user’s inactivity on them. 

But as we can observe today, those efforts were of poor quality: some of the apps continue to receive users’ private data even when the last hasn’t been using the app for more than 90 days. 

As a result: more than 5 thousand developers continued to collect users’ data — gender, language, and other data that is successfully used later for marketing aims. Read More on the topic: Why Is Secure Messaging Important in 2020?

But what is more curious, the Facebook team representatives claim that all this “info sharing” is under the Privacy Policy of Facebook, so no term was violated.

Of course, the issue was solved soon, plus, Facebook updated its Platform Terms and Developer Policies accordingly.

Was it the first time Facebook screwed up?

This privacy Shafu isn’t the first one. In 2018, it was revealed that Cambridge Analytica (CA) had revealed information about millions of Facebook users. You have probably heard about this case.

The company was accused of using personal data of 50 million Facebook users in order to influence the outcome of the US presidential election in 2016.

Back then, the CA managed to collect millions of Facebook users’ personal data through the quiz “This is your digital life.”

Without smelling anything out of the ordinary, users agreed to any conditions of the app and thus shared personal information about themselves and their friends.

Mark Zuckerberg admitted that his social network made mistakes in working with Cambridge Analytica.

He promised to introduce measures that make it difficult for other companies and applications to collect Facebook user data.

But as we see, those measures taken were not enough, and we again faced privacy issues. There is a whole timeline of Facebook privacy problems.

When exactly will it end?

At what conditions Facebook users can completely rely on the network in terms of privacy of personal and sensitive data?

As soon as users’ personal data are stored not on central servers but on their own local devices, then privacy won’t be a problem. 

But for the time being, it’s impossible. 

More on the topic: Is WhatsApp Safe and Secure?

So how can users protect their privacy?

Of course, you can completely give up on Facebook, but only a few are ready to make such a decision. The only mean of protection is controlling the settings for displaying your data on.

You should configure all apps and social networks for entering which you can use your Facebook account. First of all, it’s Farmville, Twitter or Instagram. First, you need to open Facebook and open the settings menu.

Next, you need to select “Apps and Websites” in it.

After that, click the “Edit” button in the “Apps, Website and Games” section.

After opening a new window, click “Disable Platform”.

Even if the platform is disabled, there is another setting that should also be disabled. Your friends can use applications that collect information about users to prevent copying and disable this platform.

To do this, click “Edit” in the “Apps Others Use” tab.

Here you will see checkmarks opposite the options. For maximum protection, remove each of them and save the changes.

But true privacy can be provided only in case of decentralization and advanced encryption. That is what the Utopia ecosystem gives each and everyone — total security and confidentiality.