The Mobile App Industry’s Reaction to the Facebook Data Privacy Affair

Facebook Data Breach: How to Tell If Your Account Was Exposed | Fortune

Facebook Data Breach affected over 87 Million Users in March this year and the days that followed are affecting the millions of mobile app development companies globally.

This is the story of what happened and how it continues to affect the mobile app development industry even days after the fire has settled.

Backstory of What Went Down with Facebook and 87 Million Users in March 2018

Another huge data breach, another stony silence from Facebook | Carole Cadwalladr | The Guardian

In the weekend of 17th March 2018, the news and uproar arose against Facebook when the news came out that the social media giant had been wrongly sending out personal user data to Cambridge Analytica, the political consultancy that worked on Trump 2016 election campaign.  The case was not that of a hack, it was of not informing the users in black and white of what data is being shared to the third party apps that request access into not just users’ but also their friends’ Facebook profile.

The next few days were utilized by Facebook in large scale reputation management – accepting what happened heads on and making auditing of all third party apps, to see how they are using the user data, their action plan.

With the news of data breach having settled now, the restriction on mobile app developers who are accessing users’ Facebook profile remains.

The Direct Impact of Facebook Data Breach on Mobile App Development Companies, Globally

Following the day the data breach news broke out, Facebook has put all the third party apps that are associated with the social media platform under audit scrutiny. The brand is now going through all the apps analyzing what information they are taking and how they are using more minutely than before. This, in turn, resulted in Facebook banning over 200+ mobile apps.

Under its new data privacy statement, Facebook has put its foot down on the decision that it would be taking away the developer access from apps that are not being used by a user in over 3 months. Facebook also said that it is changing the login process in the next version as a system that would limit the access data to only the users’ name, profile picture, and email address. If the app needs any more access it will have to seek Facebook’s permission.

Also, Facebook has announced the new set of European Privacy controls, which highlights that users will now be asked to give permission if they wish to see an advertisement from the third party apps, giving the control of personalization to the end users.

Following this, doing targeting advertisement through Facebook has become a little difficult for the app developers. The app development companies that also handle the marketing efforts might have to start looking at other social media platform for app marketing opportunities.

What should be the next plan of action of the mobile app development companies

Incidents like these, like what happened when Uber got hacked or when PayPal was hacked, end up giving a direct negative blow to the app development industry, with Facebook incident, it’s no different.

The biggest impact that mobile apps that give login access through Facebook have faced is a decline in the login rate emerging because of the lost user trust into how their data will be used.

As mobile app development companies, it has become our responsibility to ensure that we have a framework in place where the exact detail of how the information is being used is specified to the users. We will have to make conscious efforts to only take in that information that the app actually need to function.

As for asking for viewing friends’ profile for marketing goes, apps should look at other ways to extend their user base at the back of one user. They should make use of another marketing medium like discounts on sharing the app or sharing the recent purchase on Facebook to take the word out.

Going a little in-depth in the technical side, here are the things that a mobile application will not be able to do with Facebook bringing major changes, rather restrictions in the access that its API is giving –

1. Related to Login

Manula software updates related to "login"

  • Users will no more be able to publish anything on Facebook through the business’s mobile application.
  • Apps asking for following information will have to go through a strict security check before the permission is given – Users’ Friends, events, likes, group, photo, post, video, and tagged places.
  • Apps will no more be able to get following information through users’ Facebook login – religion, politics, relationship, friend list, education, work, about me, and activity preferences like music, book, movie, etc.

2. Related to Facebook Events

13 Ways to Use Facebook Events for Your Brand | Sprout Social

  • Apps will no more get following information – attending, declined, comment, feed, interested, no reply, photos, posts, videos, and comments.
  • Companies can no longer post operation on maybe, interested, attending, or declined edges.

3. Related to Friends

This study will make you think about how many Facebook friends you have | From the Grapevine

  • Facebook has removed the following social contexts – Friends who like, Friends tagged at, music friends heard, videos friends watched.
  • Mutual Friends API is not available anymore
  • Apps’ right to invite friends will be returned with an empty data set.

4. Related to Tags

  • Apps will no longer be able to get access to photo, video, or post of the non-app users who have been tagged by the app users on Facebook.
  • Apps will no longer be able to view users’ tagged places
  • Apps will no longer get to see the detail of friends users tag on posts or photos/videos.

5. Related to User Information

privacy

  • Apps will no longer be able to get any user information related to – About, Education, Friend List, Interest, Political Inclination, Religion, Relationship, Website, and Work.

Now that you, as a business that is on mobile using the Facebook API, know what all restriction you will be facing following the Facebook new data privacy new guidelines, let us look at the solution that you have.

The only solution that you have left with amidst all the restriction and scrutiny is changing your business model.

You will have to find other ways to get users’ information beside relying on Facebook for it. Plus, your app layout should be clear enough for the time when Facebook scrutinizes it for the rightful intent behind collection of user information.

In short, if you want to continue using Facebook as a mode of getting user data you will have to be your intention known and even then, it is time to expand your advertisement mode and not rely on just platform.

Roundup of Tech and Hosting News

Tech Round-up - Five Things to Know in Tech on 17 May 2021

Welcome to our latest round-up of news from the tech and hosting world. Here’s what we’ve discovered this month.

Fake Amazon review scam exposed

Scammer Accidentally Revealed Amazon Fake Reviews Scam - 13 Million Record

Thanks to an online data leak, a number of independent businesses that sell products on Amazon have been caught paying customers for fake 5-star reviews. Security outfit, Safety Detectors, uncovered a scam in which vendors contacted consumers, offering to refund them if they purchased a product and gave it a 5-star review. Once the review had been posted, the refund was then paid not via Amazon, but via the consumers’ PayPal accounts.

With the data leak revealing the credentials of around a quarter of a million fake reviewers, most of them in Europe and the US, the scale of the scam was potentially enormous. What’s more, as purchases were actually made, any reviews would have been listed as coming from a verified purchaser. Besides conning genuine customers, it’s also something that can impact the honest vendors on the marketplace.

Facebook advertisers whacked iOS privacy update

Facebook Says Apple Privacy Changes Will Muck Up Online Ads | Technology News

Advertisers making use of Facebook’s advanced tracking tools have been thwarted by Apple’s recent iOS14 update. Until recently, the ability to track users’ browsing behaviour has helped Facebook provide its advertisers with highly targeted ads for marketing and remarketing purposes. However, the iOS14 update prevents third-party apps on Apple devices, such as Facebook, from using cookies or other methods of tracking, unless the device owner opts in.

According to a recent study, only 13% of global users have given permission. With millions of Facebook users accessing the site on iPhones, this low figure seriously hampers the ability to put effective advertising strategies in place. With Google also planning to abolish tracking cookies in the near future, online advertising looks set for a period of significant upheaval.

Bank’s big data cloud project

Resources Library | ThirdEye Data

In a project that could only happen using cloud tech, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia is setting up a data insights platform to help its organisational clients deliver better products and services for their own customers.

The project will make use of all the transactional data gathered by the bank which, after being cleansed of identifying data, can be used by its new range of AI-powered tech, automated decision-making tools. With the bank handling more transactional data than any other in Australia, it will give its clients unprecedented access to insights that will help them to react quickly to the evolving needs and expectations of their customers and changes in the market, while enabling them to launch new products swiftly.

Ransomware vendors get a conscience

Ransomware explained: No silver bullet, out-of-reach crooks, IT News, ET CIO

We’ve long been used to big brands and personalities changing their stance on something after being humbled by a Twitter backlash. It’s not, however, something you’d expect from a ransomware gang – until now. The storm of protest that followed DarkSide’s attack on the Colonial Pipeline in the US, an act that closed 5,500 miles of pipeline and left the east coast without fuel, has caused the cybercriminal gang to adopt an entirely more contrite approach.

In an apology published online, the outfit has promised to issue all its victims with decryption keys and pay them compensation for their losses. What’s more, it has closed down its Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) operations, ending other gangs’ ability to use its tools to ransom their victims.

Interestingly, the backlash has affected other cybercriminal groups. Another prominent ransomware provider, Babuk, has also ceased operations, changing its focus to naming and shaming corporate wrongdoers, while the XSS cybercrime forum has banned the advertising, promotion and discussion of ransomware on its site.

UK workers lack digital skills

Half of UK employees lack basic digital skills | BetaNews

In an age when digital transformation is becoming a necessity for businesses, it comes as something as a surprise that in a tech advanced country like the UK, 77% of employees say they have received no training from their employers in essential digital skills. Indeed, according to a report from FutureDotNow, over 17 million British workers lack the digital skills needed in today’s workplace.

Included in FutureDotNow’s list of essential digital skills are such things as password best practice, data analysis, using cloud storage and identifying phishing emails, as well as basic, everyday tasks like being able to access payslips or book leave online.

With the majority of UK organisations failing to tackle the lack of digital skills, FutureDotNow warns it can have a significant effect on the UK economy, slowing digital transformation, impeding productivity and making companies less competitive than international rivals.

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