Facebook made some impressive strides in privacy at their annual conference today, announcing a new feature that would let users log into connected apps without giving any personal data. There will also be the option for users to tick off which Facebook permissions to allow an app on the initial set-up.
On the web, Facebook’s App Control Panel is getting a major update so it will be easy to see which apps are connected to Facebook and what permissions they currently have. Facebook also said that they will no longer allow apps to pull in data from friends of friends; everybody has to individually offer their data to apps. All of these features will be rolling out over the next couple of months.
Considering the biggest stigma against Facebook right now is that it snoops through all of your personal stuff without you knowing about it, these features are extremely welcome. For those that have already sworn off the ubiquitous social network, it may be too little too late, but as an active user, I’m really happy to see these additions. What about you guys? How much attention do you pay to permissions requested through Facebook-connected apps? Is requiring a Facebook account a dealbreaker for whether or not you use an app?
