Unless you’ve just returned from an extended vacation on a deserted island you’re probably aware of the Cambridge Analytica scandal that resulted in millions of Facebook users having their personal information leaked or sold to a third party.
Well, truth be told, Cambridge Analytica was just the tip of the iceberg.
In the wake of that PR nightmare Facebook conducted a review of all the Facebook apps and games that had access to their platform and they banned thousands of apps and games for leaking and stealing user data and information.
Many of those banned apps and games were previously trusted and used by large numbers of Facebook users.
I said all of that to say this: If you use ANY app or play ANY game on Facebook there’s a chance that your personal information is being leaked, stolen and/or sold right this very minute.
As I mentioned in this post, rogue apps can cause strange things to occur on Facebook that can have you thinking your account has been hacked when it really wasn’t.
Now we know that many apps and games were really created to serve as a way for the people behind them to “mine” your personal data and profit from it.
If you’ve ever wondered why a company would spend lots of money to create a useful app or a really fun game and allow you to use it for free, it’s because they have a plan for earning a return on that investment.
Legitimate app and game makers earn their revenue by displaying ads inside their apps or selling optional add-ons (aka “In-App Purchases”). But now it’s clear that plenty of others are making money by leaking and stealing your data and selling it to the highest bidder.
Bottom line: If you use any apps or play any games on Facebook you might want to consider disabling them to eliminate the possibility of having your personal data sold to folks who might not have your best interests in mind.
At the very least you should disable any apps and games you don’t use (or even remember installing).
If you never use any apps or play any games at all I strongly recommend that you turn off Facebook’s app platform to prevent rogue apps from running without your knowledge.
And whatever you do, don’t take or share any quizzes that might pop up in your newsfeed because that seems to be the scammers’ preferred method of stealing your info at the current time.
Bonus tip #1: Click here to read about several Facebook scams and hoaxes that are currently making the rounds on Facebook.
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