Use This Tool To See If Your Photos Were Exposed In Facebook’s Latest Privacy Blunder
As promised, Facebook has released a tool that lets users see if they are among the 6.8 million people who were potentially affected by a "photo API bug" that may have exposed their private photos during September.
"When someone gives permission for an app to access their photos on Facebook, we usually only grant the app access to photos people share on their timeline. In this case, the bug potentially gave developers access to other photos, such as those shared on Marketplace or Facebook Stories. The bug also impacted photos that people uploaded to Facebook but chose not to post," Facebook said earlier this week.
At the time, Facebook said it believed the bug could have affected millions of users and up to 1,500 apps built by 876 developers. Potentially affected individuals include those who used Facebook Login and granted permission to third-party apps to access their photos. Unfortunately, the bug allowed third-party apps to have access to a broader set of photos than they were supposed to between September 13 to September 25, 2018.
"We're sorry this happened. Early next week we will be rolling out tools for app developers that will allow them to determine which people using their app might be impacted by this bug. We will be working with those developers to delete the photos from impacted users," Facebook said at the time.
Facebook has since fixed the issue, or so it says, and you can see if you were among the potentially millions of people who were impacted by following this link.
Whether you are affected or not, Facebook recommends logging into any apps where you've shared your photos to check which ones they have access to.
This is the latest privacy blunder in a long list of gaffes. Facebook has come under increased scrutiny following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, with Mark Zuckerberg even testifying before Congress about the screw-up, and how the company works in general.