Cybersecurity

Facebook Shared User Data With Developers Longer Than Promised

  • Social network failed to block access to some personal details
  • Flaw affected apps from approximately 5,000 developers
Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg
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Facebook Inc. mistakenly shared some users’ personal data with outside developers for a longer period of time than promised, in a breach of policies the social network implemented following the Cambridge Analytica scandal of 2018.

The company previously said that third-party app developers would be blocked from accessing user data if a person didn’t interact with the developer’s app for 90 days. At that point, the developer would be required to ask users for permission to re-access their data, including information like email addresses, birthdays and hometowns.