You know those pesky screens that you click through on Facebook to authorize an application to have access to every shred of information that exists on you? Facebook is making that a simpler process so that you have a better idea as to what the application wants and needs from you.
Facebook’s Bret Taylor put it like this:
Today, we’re taking the next step by providing more transparency and control over the information you share with third-party applications and websites with a new, simpler application authorization process. In order for these applications and websites to provide social and customized experiences, they need to know a little bit about you. We understand, however, that it’s important that you also have control over what you’re sharing. With this new authorization process, when you log into an application with your Facebook account, the application will only be able to access the public parts of your profile by default. To access the private sections of your profile, the application has to explicitly ask for your permission.
The new permission process looks like this:
This is another step by Facebook to address the privacy concerns of its users. Think about it though, how many stories have you read in the last week about Facebook and privacy, zero? Apple and Google have provided the cover that Facebook was dying for.
According to Facebook, this is all part of their vision:
These improvements reflect two core Facebook beliefs: first, your data belongs to you; second, it should be easy to control what you share. If at any point you ask a developer to remove the data you’ve granted them access to, we require that that they delete this information.
That last section, that is rather soothing, don’t you think?
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