Facebook Login Notifications To Alert Users On Third-Party Data Collection; Can It Save FB?

Facebook users will now be notified whenever they login with Facebook id to a third-party app or website. The feature that began rolling out this week is dubbed as Facebook Login Notifications. It will alert users via email every time a third-party app or website accesses the user data.

Facebook Login Notifications: What Is It

The idea is to give users more control and to alert them on who can access the data. Facebook said in a blog post that users are alerted on two conditions: One is "when a user logs into a third party app with Facebook Login and grants the app access to their information," the blog says.

Secondly, the Login Notification is triggered "when a user re-uses Facebook Login to log into a 3rd party app after an app's access to information has expired." Facebook believes that the new feature will give users full control over the information shared with third-party apps. Plus, the social media giant is giving users "a clear path to edit those settings."

source  

Additionally, the Facebook Login Notifications feature will list out the type of data accessible to the third-party app or website. The company has also introduced an Edit button to help take immediate action against any abuse. The Edit button will allow users to revoke any app/website's permission to access their data.

Will It Help With Anti-Trust Issues?

We're all aware of the piling anti-trust issues and security lapses Facebook is facing. Login Notifications is the latest service to curb its privacy scandals and boost morale among users. The infamous Cambridge Analytica scandal is a good example of how a third-party app collected massive data, misused it for political campaigns, mismanagement, and so on.

Facebook has also been encouraging security researchers with bug bounty programs to curb misuse of third-party apps on the platform. The Login Notifications feature, which is accessible now, could be one way of reminding users about the data access that some apps currently have. Giving the users a choice to continue or remove the apps is another way of giving them more control.