Facebook says it has suspended 200 apps for possible misuse of data

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Since suspending Cambridge Analytica for using an app to exploit user information nearly two months ago, Facebook says it has now suspended an additional 200 more apps.

Following the Cambridge Analytica data scandal, Facebook said it would begin a thorough audit and investigation of all apps on its platform with access to large amounts of user data. The company says it has now investigated thousands of apps and the result, so far, has been the suspension of 200 apps that are now pending an investigation.

Here’s Facebook’s comment regarding the apps that have been suspended:

To date thousands of apps have been investigated and around 200 have been suspended — pending a thorough investigation into whether they did in fact misuse any data. Where we find evidence that these or other apps did misuse data, we will ban them and notify people via this website [“How can I tell if an app may have misused my Facebook information?“]. It will show people if they or their friends installed an app that misused data before 2015 — just as we did for Cambridge Analytica.

Facebook had separated its investigation process into two phases: first, a comprehensive review of apps that had access to large amounts of user data, and then, interviews with the organizations behind the identified apps to determine what data it accessed and possible audits of the company connected to the app.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg has previously said any apps that refused to cooperate or failed an audit would be banned from Facebook.

In the weeks since the Cambridge Analytica news broke, Facebook has taken several steps to show users it is prioritizing protection measures around user data. In addition to launching the app audit, Facebook has changed app data policies, restricting the amount of information available to developers. It has also released an app removal tool for users that makes it easy to remove multiple apps at once.

During the F8 Conference at the beginning of May, Mark Zuckerberg also announced a coming “Clear History” tool that would allow users to erase their browsing history on Facebook.