Facebook says it has removed tens of thousands of apps from about 400 developers to date, as part of its investigation following the Cambridge Analytica scandal

SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook indicated on Friday that the scale of its data privacy issues was far larger than it had previously acknowledged …

New York Times 2019-09-22

Context & Ripple Effects

This is the payoff of an audit Facebook promised in March 2018, when it committed to review every app that had extended data access before 2014 in the immediate aftermath of Cambridge Analytica. The first concrete output came in May 2018 with about 200 suspicious apps suspended out of thousands reviewed; eighteen months later, the disclosed total has ballooned to tens of thousands of apps across roughly 400 developers.

The jump matters for what comes next in the coverage arc: weeks after this disclosure, Facebook admitted roughly 100 developers may have improperly accessed Groups member data despite announced restrictions, and by January 2020 a Massachusetts Superior Court ordered the company to hand over data on the very apps it had suspended. The suspension list is becoming evidence, not just cleanup.

First-order effects

Roughly 400 developers lose their apps and platform data access outright, and — per the terms Facebook set in its 2018 review pledge — users whose information those apps held are supposed to be told about misuse.

Second-order effects

Legitimate platform developers face a tightening audit regime that makes building on Facebook's APIs riskier, while state-level litigants like Massachusetts gain a roadmap: the suspension disclosures themselves become discovery targets.

Third-order effects

If the pattern holds, platform data access shifts structurally from open-by-default distribution to audited, revocable permissioning — with courts and regulators, not the platform alone, deciding how far the record must be opened.

The trend: Social platforms are moving from self-policed open data ecosystems to externally scrutinized, audit-driven access models, with each disclosure enlarging the regulatory surface.

Discussion

@oliviasolon Olivia Solon on x
You can investigate all you like, but it's becoming increasingly clear that FB had absolutely zero control over the user data it allowed third-party apps to extract from its platform https://twitter.com/...
@carolecadwalla Carole Cadwalladr on x
More shock news from Facebook. @nytimes reveals how it has suspended tens of 1000s of apps doing who-knows-what with users' data. BUT only revealed it today ahead of documents set to be unsealed next week in new lawsuit https://www.nytimes.com/...
@fabiochiusi Fabio Chiusi on x
“documents showed that Facebook had suspended 69,000 apps. Of those, the majority were terminated because the developers did not cooperate with Facebook's investigation; 10,000 were flagged for potentially misappropriating personal data from FB users” https://www.nytimes.com/...
@tonyromm Tony Romm on x
NEW: Court documents unsealed today reveal Facebook a) suspended 10k apps b) thousands suggest potential data misuse c) FB refuses to tell Mass AG the names of apps. Today's release from FB was only tip of iceberg. w/@drewharwell https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@lindsaypgorman Lindsay P. Gorman on x
The “tens of thousands” suspended apps come from about 400 developers. “Many” were in the testing phase and not yet live. https://newsroom.fb.com/...
@vanessaw Vanessa Wojtusiak on x
“To date, this investigation has addressed millions of apps. Of those, tens of thousands have been suspended for a variety of reasons while we continue to investigate.” https://newsroom.fb.com/...
@dhh @dhh on x
Another day, another Facebook privacy scandal. Tens of thousands of apps had improper access to data ala Cambridge Analytica. FB has previously claimed only hundreds did. If you still us FB or IG, ask yourself, is any scandal enough to make you quit? https://www.nytimes.com/...
@ronwyden Ron Wyden on x
This wasn't some accident. Facebook put up a neon sign that said “Free Private Data,” and let app developers have their fill of Americans' personal info. The FTC needs to hold Mark Zuckerberg personally responsible. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@einsteinsattic Phil Booth on x
Having fought to keep the numbers secret, @facebook now admits it has suspended *tens of thousands* of apps, from 400 developers, over improper data use: https://www.theverge.com/... Facebook “update”: https://newsroom.fb.com/...

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