Facebook 3rd-Party Apps Can Spy On You
Did you know that when you install any Facebook 3rd-party apps, you are allowing them to access your personal information? Any Facebook 3rd-party apps you add or install gives them the explicit rights to gather your personal information. Maybe you are wondering how did you get these apps installed in your Facebook in the first place. There are different ways how you accumulated these apps. And it can be intentional or unintentional.
How Does These Facebook 3rd-Party Apps Installed?
As I’ve mentioned, you might have installed these 3rd-party apps intentional or unintentional. Here are some possible ways how did you get these apps on your Facebook. Note that these are some of the known examples only.
- Android or iOS apps you installed where it gives you options to register or login using Facebook;
- Commenting on blogs or any apps where it gives you an option to register or login using Facebook instead;
- Installing Facebook games or apps.
If you notice, there is a common denominator in the examples above. And the common example is in app registration. Since Facebook is the most popular social media platform, most apps use this option for end-users. So instead of creating a new account and filling information, these apps utilize Facebook instead using an API to connect. When you register using your Facebook account, then it is simply telling the app that you letting them to access your personal information.
Most of these Facebook 3rd-party apps are harmless and gathers only the necessary information for your registration. But if you are unlucky and careless, you might end up letting malicious Facebook 3rd-party apps spy on you. They can steal your personal information and use it. This will then violate your personal account’s privacy.
How To Remove Any Malicious Facebook 3rd-Party Apps?
The steps to remove any malicious Facebook 3rd-party apps is not that hard. However, you can only do the steps below with a browser.
- Open a browser and login to Facebook.
- On the top-right side menu of Facebook, click the drop-down arrow.
- Scroll down and find Settings
- Then on the Settings window, click Apps from the left side of the window.
- You will see all Facebook 3rd-party apps installed on the main window. Select each app you think are suspicious or you no longer needed. Like the example below. To remove or delete an app, hover on the 3rd-app you want to remove until you see the “x” icon or mark. Click the “x” icon to remove the app.
- Confirm deletion of the 3rd-party app.
The steps above will remove the Facebook 3rd-party apps installed permanently. This is only one of the many Facebook tips that we will share with you. One of our previous post is about how to disable Facebook chat heads (also known as Facebook bubble message).