The company says that as many as 100 app developers could have accessed the user data, which included names and profile pictures, through a Facebook interface programming interface.
Following disclosures about Cambridge Analytica in April 2018, Facebook clamped down on the software, limiting what information apps can collect from Facebook users. The changes aimed to limit what information apps can collect from Facebook users. But a number of outside developers "retained access to group member information, such as group activity names and profile pictures, from the Groups API, longer than we had intended," Facebook said in a blog post.
It was not immediately clear how many Facebook users or group members may have been affected by the problem. Facebook refused to share a numerical estimate with CNN.
At least 1
Asked if the 11 developers could have criminal consequences, Facebook told CNN, "The problem is not with developers doing anything wrong; it's with Facebook that allows access longer than should have happened."
The disclosure is the latest in a series of concessions from Facebook as it attempts to clean up its computer practices that were the subject of a $ 5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission earlier this year. In September, the company said that tens of thousands of apps were suspended in the middle of the internal review.
"The new framework under our agreement with the FTC means more accountability and transparency in how we build and maintain products," Facebook wrote in the blog post. "As we continue to work through this process, we expect to find more examples of how we can improve, either through our products or changing how to access data."
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