Facebook users are waking up to just how much private information they have handed over to third-party apps. Users are sharing their shock on Twitter at discovering that thousands of software plugins for Facebook have been gathering their data.
Some of the better known apps that may be connected to your profile include those of popular sites like Amazon, Buzzfeed, Expedia, Etsy, Instagram, Spotify and Tinder. Many users are choosing to manually remove permissions previously granted to each individual app, a time consuming process.
It is unclear whether this will allow them to claw back data previously shared via third-parties. The panic follows revelations that data gathered by a quiz app called This Is Your Digital Life used by 270,000 Facebook users in 2015 was sold on to Cambridge Analytical. It also gathered data on all of those users’ Facebook friends, an estimated total of 50 million accounts.
The firm is currently embroiled in a privacy row amid accusations the information was used by the Trump campaign to influence the US presidential elections, as well as to boost the Brexit campaign in the UK.