Facebook has given 5,000 developers access to data about their inactive users, although that information had to be blocked. The tech giant has indicated this himself.
Facebook said in an update about its technical features that it found about 5,000 developers who could view the data of inactive users.
Under normal circumstances, that data should be blocked if a user does not open an app for 90 days. When a user reactivates the app, the creator can also retrieve data from that user.
But that’s not how it worked in practice. The influx of data was never turned off for a few thousand developers.
The error in question was in Facebook Login, Facebook’s tool for logging into certain apps with your Facebook account. The bug would have been fixed in the meantime.
The social network indicated in 2018 that it would make changes to the way it shares information with app developers.
The reason for this was the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which the creator of a personality quiz collected data from 87 million users and then sold them to political campaigns. Restrictions introduced in 2018 included the 90-day inactivity deadline.