Following the recent Cambridge Analytica data scandal and criticism, Facebook is slowly attempting to clean up its act. Facebook announced that it suspended roughly 200 apps that potentially misuse users’ data. A report by tech Crunch provided most of the information used in this article.

Facebook is targeting third-party applications that use the platform to connect with users. The company suspended apps after going through a thorough investigation to ensure that the developers didn’t abuse Facebook user’s information.

Cambridge Analytica's role in the scandal

Cambridge Analytica collected personal information on 87 million Facebook users without their knowledge. The company worked with Donald Trump for his 2016 presidential election campaign. Around 300,000 users downloaded the psychology personality app called This Is Your Digital Life. The app collected data such as user location, friends, and interests. It also accessed a huge portion of information from the users' friends. The data was used to understand voter psychology and influence people’s perspective, which is against Facebook's policies. In response to the data breach, Facebook has lost billions of dollars in market value. Cambridge Analytica shut down at the beginning of May.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified in front of Congress in April about the data crisis. He promised that Facebook would perform a data adult to see how many other apps had access to large amounts of user’s information. Zuckerburg stated on March 21, that Facebook would begin an investigation into the handling of user information.

Facebook’s data policy was changed back in 2014 to reduce the amount of information that apps had available to them. Applications that don’t meet the standards of the investigation will be banned from Facebook.

What's next?

The social media platform has claimed to review thousands of applications that potentially misused user data.

While no specifics have been mentioned thus far, people should expect the number of suspended apps to go up. Suspended apps will be interviewed, give detailed information on data handling, and perform on-site inspections. There’s been no mention of a deadline for the application audit. Considering the amount information the platform needs to gather and review, the process could take several months to years to complete.

In a recent blog post from Facebook’s Product Partnerships, Vice President Ime Archibong said that there are several big groups of experts reviewing app data and information. Archibong stated users interested in knowing whether their information has been compromised by one of the suspended apps will be able to check via their page. The webpage will be similar to those that checked if their information was compromised in the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
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