We all tend to worry about someone getting hold of our social media passwords and snooping around our lives. However, we often overreact to this and completely neglect the other side of the coin. Many companies are behind third-party apps that do exactly that: extract your data . We ourselves grant this access and permission to our accounts. Today, we'll show you how to find out who has access to your private data and how to remove these apps' access to your account.
How long have you not checked your Facebook apps?
We all worry about our worst enemy reading our private conversations, and on Facebook, that's obvious. However, our data is circulating online with our consent. The fact that strangers can access our information should concern us even more than someone we know accessing our account. Every time a third-party application asks us to log in with our Facebook account, we expose our data to third parties.
Do you remember that quiz you took four years ago to find out which Hogwarts house you belonged to? Or that time you logged into an app that told you which posts were your most successful of the year? Sometimes, many of these apps start with good intentions. However, they end up being sold to other apps. Their new owners only want our data. Depending on the permissions we granted when allowing the app on our account , unknown entities can have varying degrees of access to our photos, posts, and messages on the social network.
How to remove apps that access your Facebook account
The process for revoking permissions on Facebook has changed numerous times. At the time of writing this tutorial, Facebook's official manual wasn't up to date, so you can get an idea of ​​the process. However, there's nothing to worry about. These are the steps you should follow to remove access to all those apps and games that have access to your account:
- Go to your Facebook profile. It is best to do it through a Web navigator, but you can also do it from a mobile.
- Go to Settings and Privacy.
- Enter the option Configuration.
- In the side panel, access the option Privacy policy.
- Access the option 'Privacy Shortcuts'.
- You will get a series of icons with different options. From here you can configure multiple privacy options for your account. We will enter the option 'Configuration of your data on Facebook'.
- Click on 'Continue' to follow the process.
- If you have never done this process, a huge list of Applications. Next to each one, there will be a button that says 'Delete'.
- Delete all apps you no longer use, as well as all those who have a weird name what do you have you suspect that they can access your account in a suspicious way.
- Once you check to remove an app, you will get a pop-up with two options extra that you can mark before deleting. We recommend that you check the first option (which removes all traces of said app from your account) and uncheck the second option, since it serves to notify the owners of said application that you have revoked the permissions to your profile.
- Once you have eliminated all the applications that you consider appropriate, click on 'Next'.
- All changes will be applied and you can return to the previous menu to choose other privacy options if you consider it convenient.
Interestingly, once you return to the 'Privacy Settings Check' screen, the status of each icon you've worked with will be updated . A small line will appear showing the last time you reviewed those settings. With this, Zuckerberg's team is trying to raise awareness about the importance of reviewing our account privacy settings, something we should do every few months.
How to prevent third parties from taking control of your account
Facebook has already faced all sorts of multi-million dollar lawsuits due to the unethical practices of third parties working on the social network. Unfortunately, no matter how much Facebook employees work to enhance our security and privacy, the responsibility for our data will always rest with us.
Many users have deleted their Facebook accounts after their data was compromised or bots took control of their profiles . To avoid these situations, you should be cautious when authorizing apps with your Facebook account.
Here are some tips we recommend to protect your account :
Check the permissions
A friend shares a new viral game or quiz that everyone's taking. And you get curious. Well, before granting access, check what that app wants to do with your account . Sometimes, you might be surprised by how much data you're authorizing with a single click. And remember, this doesn't just apply to Facebook. You should be careful on all your social media accounts, especially when it comes to fleeting trends and apps that suddenly become popular but whose origins you don't know.
Remove permissions once you use the app
Now that you've taken your Harry Potter test and you're incredibly angry because the Sorting Hat told you you're a Hufflepuff, consider following all the steps we described a few lines ago to prevent those behind the test from continuing to have access to your account.
Note that we're not saying the purpose of the test is to access your profile, but it can happen. Furthermore, the app's creators may not have malicious intentions, but what if a company offered them a large sum of money for the app and had nefarious motives? Therefore, the wisest course of action is to revoke permissions as soon as you stop using the app.
Check your privacy settings regularly
We know. Facebook is very powerful, but navigating its settings is worse than getting lost in a maze. Memorize the path to your Facebook data settings or bookmark this tutorial. Review your settings every three months, for example. We also recommend checking out the other four options in that menu , as they're quite interesting as well.