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Facebook apps to be banned from posting to your profile, in two stages

Facebook continues to tighten security after the Cambridge Analytica saga. After recently explaining how it will comply with new privacy laws, it is now taking steps to stop apps posting to your profile …

For apps that wanted to promote either themselves or some other message, the ability to post as you was one of the most prized permissions. It meant their posts got the same visibility as status updates posted by Facebook friends.

Savvy users would set app post visibility to ‘Me only,’ thus sparing their friends from spam. But most app users granted permission without realizing they were doing so.

Facebook’s developer’s blog says that no new apps will be allowed to do this, and existing permissions will be revoked in August.

The publish_actions permission will be deprecated. This permission granted apps access to publish posts to Facebook as the logged in user. Apps created from today onwards will not have access to this permission. Apps created before today that have been previously approved to request publish_actions can continue to do so until August 1, 2018. No further apps will be approved to use publish_actions via app review.

If you have concerns about Facebook and your personal data, check out our how-to guides:

Photo: PCWorld


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Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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