Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) Responds With New Data-Sharing Policies After Cambridge Analytica Scandal

In a bid to calm the privacy storm, the executive says they will make it possible for people to know whether Cambridge Analytica accessed their data starting April 9. The Cambridge Analytica disclosure tool will appear at the top of users News Feeds as Facebook looks to settle the matter once and for all.

Changes After Cambridge Analytica Breach

One of the changes that Facebook is making will see increased restrictions to APIs on the platform. App developers will no longer be able to scrape data touching on religious preference as well as political affiliation among others

Facebook has also confirmed that it will approve any app that asks users to share their check-ins, groups, photos and videos data. The tech giant also plans to block apps from collecting user’s personal information using the Facebook Login tool.

In addition, the embattled social giant will no longer allow people to search for other Facebook users using their phone numbers.

Cambridge Analytica Data Breach

It is alleged that Cambridge Analytica was able to harvest data from 87 million Facebook users through an app called ‘thisisyourdigitallife’.  The app offered personality quizzes and once installed was able to siphon Facebook user’s data as well as that of their close friends.

It has since emerged that the scam might have started a few years back when hackers harvested email addresses and phone numbers on the ‘Dark Web’. The hackers went on to use automated computer programs to feed the numbers and addresses in Facebook’s ‘search boxes’ in a bid to gain access to full names of people associated with the details.

“Given the scale and sophistication of the activity we’ve seen, we believe most people on Facebook could have had their public profile scraped.” said CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Facebook has already acknowledged that as many as 270,000 people could have downloaded the app. Zuckerberg in a call with reporters said they have taken stock of people who used the malicious app and analyzed the number of friends they had at the time.

“We didn’t put out the 50 million number. That came from other parties. We wanted to wait until we had the full understanding,” Zuckerberg explained, adding, “I’m quite confident it’s not more than 87 million,” said Mr. Zuckerberg.

Amidst the remarks, Facebook finds itself in hot water over the way it misreports crucial details. The company is being taken to task over the way it increases estimates of misdoings.  The company is fresh from confirming that it has shut down nearly 300 additional Facebook and Instagram accounts and pages, linked to Internet Research Agency, a Russian Propaganda Group.

This is the first time that the giant social media company is acknowledging Instagram users were also affected by the Russian propaganda during the hotly contested U.S election.

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