How to Keep Facebook From Oversharing Your Info

By Katherine Bindley 

Facebook Inc. is again adding restrictions to the access app developers have to our personal data, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg announced Wednesday, facing pressure from a scandal resulting from a time when the social network's user-data policy was far more lax.

Whether you're a daily Facebook user or someone who rarely logs in, there's a good chance you were spooked by the news: A personality-prediction app shared data it collected from users of the social network with outsiders, including Cambridge Analytica, a data-analysis firm with ties to the Trump campaign.

People who took the app's quiz -- some 270,000 of them -- granted its developer access to details about themselves, including their city, things they'd "liked" and information about their friends. Because "friends of friends" is actually an enormous population, potentially 50 million users were affected.

At the time, Facebook allowed developers to collect a broad range of data. Only the sharing of it that was prohibited.

As Mr. Zuckerberg reminded people Wednesday, Facebook tightened its restrictions on sharing data with outside developers in 2015 (after announcing it in 2014). It's now far harder for an app developer to get information about a user's friends, unless the friend is also on the app.

And he said his company would get even stricter, reducing the amount of data users give apps by default and turning off the tap if a person hasn't used that app in three months.

While these steps will likely help curb some data sharing, as usual, the best advice anyone, including Mr. Zuckerberg, could give was to use Facebook's own tools to see what info is being shared with outside developers and to revoke permissions.

Facebook says that in the next month it will surface a tool at the top of the News Feed for adjusting these settings. But why wait? Here's how to figure out what you're sharing, what outside developers can get their hands on, and what bits of your personal information may be leaking out via your friends -- and what you can do about it.

What Apps Get When You Log In With Facebook

Some iOS and Android apps and games that aren't native to Facebook, ranging from Words With Friends to TripAdvisor, let you log in via Facebook. Some, including many online dating apps, actually require it. While this is supposed to be a convenience feature (a single login for many sites), it's also a way for Facebook and developers to acquire more info about you.

After downloading an app, it will prompt you to login with Facebook. If you do, a pop-up appears telling you what information the app will get from your Facebook account. Mr. Zuckerberg said that, by default, only your name, profile photo and email address would be collected, but app developers can ask you to volunteer much more.

For instance, the dating app Bumble says it receives your public profile, friend list, relationships, birthday, work history, education history, current city, likes and email address. This isn't out of the ordinary for apps such as this, and can be helpful.

Apps you've logged into via Facebook show up in settings under "Logged in with Facebook." (In the app, go to Settings>Account Settings>Apps.) You can review and even adjust what you're sharing with each app by tapping the name or, on the web, clicking the pencil icon.

This section also contains apps that run inside of Facebook. Mostly games, quizzes and other diversions, these are also ways developers can funnel information from your account. For instance, while one bingo game might ask only for your public profile, another might ask for a list of friends, your birthday, current city and email address, too. Be vigilant.

When apps give you the option of logging in via Facebook or with an email address and password, you may want to opt for the latter, to reduce the amount of data Facebook and the app's developer automatically collect.

What Other People Share Through Apps

Reviewing what you've agreed to share is only one part of the equation. You also need to check what you may be letting your friends share about you.

Within the app settings page, look for Apps Others Use, then tap it or, on the web, click Edit. There are 13 categories of sharing, ranging from "bio" and "birthday" to "religious and political views" and "if I'm online."

Uncheck those boxes.

How to Ditch the App Platform Altogether

A more nuclear option is to opt out of Facebook's App Platform entirely. Look for the Apps, Websites and Plugins section on the app settings page. This setting has two choices: on or off.

According to Facebook's website, "on" means letting the company "receive information about your use of third-party apps and websites to provide you with better and more customized experiences."

If you turn it off, Facebook says you won't be able to log into websites or apps using Facebook and that your friends won't be able to interact with you using apps and websites, among other things.

Think you'd miss being able to do any of these things? Me neither. It's a good time to consider saying bye-bye to this function, if you haven't already.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 21, 2018 18:04 ET (22:04 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.