"Tens of thousands" of apps made by about 400 developers have been suspended by Facebook as a part of its investigation after the Cambridge Analytica scandal, said the social media company.
This announcement was made by Facebook even as it was revealed that the company had suspended 69,000 apps after legal documents were unsealed in Massachusetts. However the documents also revealed that the social media company had suspended most of the the apps not following any form of serious investigations against them but because the app makers failed to reply to requests for information on emails.
Investigations of those apps on its platforms that had access to users’ data were initiated by Facebook in March of 2018. This measure was taken by the social media company following the Cambridge Analytica scandal which had shown that the London based data mining firm had illegally gained access to data of millions of users of Facebook via an app. That huge data was then used to influence the US presidential elections of 2016.
The Cambridge Analytica scandal turned out to be a huge issue for Facebobok and engulfed the role of the company’s co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg who was summoned by the US Congress to testify in front of it. It also hit the reputation of the company which it is still trying to mend.
Facebook has already examined millions of apps so far as a part of its investigations which is still ongoing, the company said on Friday.
A few apps have been completely banned, Facebook said, and added that it has filed lawsuits against some apps. That includes a case filed against a South Korean data analytics company called Rankwave in May this year. The company also filed legal suits against JediMobi, based in Singapore and LionMobi , based in Hong Kong, in April over allegations that the apps developed by these companies had infected the phones of the users’ with malware.
The US federal charges of failing to secure data privacy against Facebook were settled this summer by the social media company with the US Federal Trade Commission for a record fine of $5 billion. Those charges had been linked to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Facebook had said that the FTC agreement "will bring its own set of requirements for bringing oversight to app developers. It requires developers to annually certify compliance with our policies" and that developers who don't do this will be "held accountable."
Documents submitted to a court in relation to a subpoena by the Massachusetts attorney general over demands for the social media company to disclose the names of apps and developers that had gathered user data from Facebook users without their consent was unsealed by a judge on Friday. The subpoena also demanded that Facebook reveal all internal communications about those apps.
Earlier in relation to the negotiations on the subpoena, Facebook had said that more than 10,000 apps had been identified by it which had exhibited “characteristics associated with higher risks of data misuse" but had not officially identified them.
(Source:www.usatoday.com)
This announcement was made by Facebook even as it was revealed that the company had suspended 69,000 apps after legal documents were unsealed in Massachusetts. However the documents also revealed that the social media company had suspended most of the the apps not following any form of serious investigations against them but because the app makers failed to reply to requests for information on emails.
Investigations of those apps on its platforms that had access to users’ data were initiated by Facebook in March of 2018. This measure was taken by the social media company following the Cambridge Analytica scandal which had shown that the London based data mining firm had illegally gained access to data of millions of users of Facebook via an app. That huge data was then used to influence the US presidential elections of 2016.
The Cambridge Analytica scandal turned out to be a huge issue for Facebobok and engulfed the role of the company’s co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg who was summoned by the US Congress to testify in front of it. It also hit the reputation of the company which it is still trying to mend.
Facebook has already examined millions of apps so far as a part of its investigations which is still ongoing, the company said on Friday.
A few apps have been completely banned, Facebook said, and added that it has filed lawsuits against some apps. That includes a case filed against a South Korean data analytics company called Rankwave in May this year. The company also filed legal suits against JediMobi, based in Singapore and LionMobi , based in Hong Kong, in April over allegations that the apps developed by these companies had infected the phones of the users’ with malware.
The US federal charges of failing to secure data privacy against Facebook were settled this summer by the social media company with the US Federal Trade Commission for a record fine of $5 billion. Those charges had been linked to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Facebook had said that the FTC agreement "will bring its own set of requirements for bringing oversight to app developers. It requires developers to annually certify compliance with our policies" and that developers who don't do this will be "held accountable."
Documents submitted to a court in relation to a subpoena by the Massachusetts attorney general over demands for the social media company to disclose the names of apps and developers that had gathered user data from Facebook users without their consent was unsealed by a judge on Friday. The subpoena also demanded that Facebook reveal all internal communications about those apps.
Earlier in relation to the negotiations on the subpoena, Facebook had said that more than 10,000 apps had been identified by it which had exhibited “characteristics associated with higher risks of data misuse" but had not officially identified them.
(Source:www.usatoday.com)
