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Sometimes Facebook should not be held responsible for privacy violations involving Facebook. For example, a Wall Street Journal survey revealed 11 popular apps that regularly pass on potentially sensitive personal data such as body weight and menstrual cycles to Facebook, sometimes in violation of social network guidelines.
The issue in dispute is an analysis tool that Facebook offers developers, called App Events. This is a plug-and-play SDK that helps developers set up custom user activity tracking that can be translated into ad targeting data. Facebook is not the only company to offer this type of tool, but according to the Wall Street Journal, it has been implemented in "thousands" of applications.
In order to get an idea of how this SDK is used, the Journal has used software to analyze the Internet communications of more than 70 applications. "The tests revealed that at least 11 apps had sent Facebook potentially sensitive information about user behavior or actual data entered," the report said. For some reason, the newspaper decided to name only five apps. They are:
- Instant Heart Rate: Heart Rate Monitor – Transmitted heart rate data.
- Flo period and ovulation monitoring – Shared when a user had his rules.
- Realtor.com – Post the location and price of the ads that a user has viewed.
- BetterMe: Weight Loss Workouts – Sharing the Weight and Size of Users.
- Breethe Meditation App – Email address used by users to login to the app and name meditations that the user has completed.
Flo seems to be the most obviously personal example of information sharing that users may not be aware of and the company's response to questions does not inspire confidence that they take the issue seriously. According to the report:
In a written statement, Flo initially indicated that he was not sending "critical user data" and that the data he sent to Facebook was "de-identified" to keep them private and secure.
The tests performed by the Journal, however, showed that sensitive information was sent with a unique advertising identifier that could be associated with a device or profile. A spokeswoman for Flo later said that the company "will significantly limit" its use of external analysis systems during its confidentiality audits.
Facebook did not respond to Gizmodo's request for comment, but told the Journal that it was recommending developers not to share "health information, financial information or information" about it. other categories of sensitive information. The Journal tested the top 10 financial applications of the US application store seemed to share sensitive information with Facebook. But health information such as menstrual cycles, heart rate and body weight fluctuations were all shared in the applications examined. Facebook said that it would inform developers of the offending applications to stop transmitting prohibited information and that, if they continue to break the rules, "this could take further action."
Some developers quickly changed their policies after being contacted by the Journal, others did not respond.
In the world of Facebook-related scandals, this one ranks pretty low on the indignation indicator. But this shows once again that you do not even need to be a Facebook user to know that you have unintentionally passed data to the tech giant. It is also important to remember that users need to be cautious when it comes to sharing health information, especially at a time when insurance companies are turning to social media and the analysis of health information. data to determine premiums.
We can also discover that the abuse of Facebook's SDK is more widespread than we thought. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced this afternoon that he is ordering the Ministry of Financial Services and other state agencies to immediately investigate Facebook's practices with third parties. .
[Wall Street Journal]
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