Facebook Encourages Developers to Build 'Private Mode' and Other Sharing Controls into Apps

facebook_logo_darkFacebook introduced ‘frictionless sharing’ at the F8 conference last month. The basic premise behind ‘frictionless sharing’ is that an application is granted permission to publish to a user profile once and doesn’t have to ask for permission again.

As expected, many Facebook users had a huge problem with the oversharing potential this new feature presents. The backlash was so severe, that the music service, Spotify, rapidly developed and deployed a “private listening” mode.

To reduce further grumblings and complaints, Facebook is asking developers to voluntarily add a private mode to any applications – if necessary. “If necessary” is obviously a very relative term. Applications that deal with sensitive information are encouraged to implement stronger controls, while apps dealing with frivolous data or share infrequently are exempt.

According to Inside Facebook, developers are being encouraged to build more privacy controls into the applications themselves, so Facebook won’t have to build more controls on the platform itself. The post goes on to state that if this voluntary method of application privacy controls is in effective, and if ‘frictionless sharing’ continues to offend Facebook’s user base, then a mandatory privacy control system could be implemented.

Click here to read the Facebook Developer’s Blog Post on the subject.

 

Most embarrassing moment ever in Beauty Contest - Facebook Scam Previous post Most embarrassing moment ever in Beauty Contest - Facebook Scam OFT Warns Debt Collectors to Stop Using Facebook to Locate Borrowers Next post OFT Warns Debt Collectors to Stop Using Facebook to Locate Borrowers