We all tend to be quite worried that someone will get the password of one of our social networks and start rummaging through our lives. However, we worry too much about this fact and totally neglect the other side of the coin. Many companies are behind third-party applications that do just that. to extract your data . We are the ones who grant said access and permissions to our account. Today we will teach you how to find out who has access to your private data and how to remove these apps’ access to your account.
How long has it been since you checked your Facebook apps?
We all worry that our worst enemy reads our private conversations, from Facebook it is obvious. However, our data is swarming the Internet under our consent. That people we don’t know could have access to our information should concern us even more than the fact that someone we know breaks into our account. Every time a third-party application asks us to log in with our Facebook account, we expose our data to third parties.
Do you remember that test you took 4 years ago to find out which Hogwarts house you were from? Or that time you logged into an app that told you what your most successful posts of the year were? Sometimes, many of these applications are born with good intentions. However, they end up being sold to other applications. Its new owners all they want is our data. Depending on what permissions we have given when allowing the application in our account , entities that we do not know may have more or less access to our photos, publications and messages on the social network.
How to remove apps that access your Facebook account
The process for revoking permissions on Facebook has changed numerous times. In our case, at the time of preparing this tutorial, the official Facebook manual was not updated, so you can get an idea. However, there is nothing to worry about. Here are the steps you need to take to remove access to all those apps and games that have access to your account:
- Go to your Facebook profile. It is best to do it through a web browser , but you can also do it from a mobile device .
- Go to Settings and Privacy .
- Go into the Settings option.
- In the side panel, access the Privacy option.
- Access the ‘ Privacy Shortcuts ‘ option.
- You will get a series of icons with different options. From here you can configure multiple privacy options for your account. We will enter the option ‘ Configuration of your data on Facebook ‘.
- Click ‘ Continue ‘ to follow the process.
- If you have never done this process, a huge list of applications will appear. Next to each one, there will be a button that says ‘ Delete ‘.
- Delete all the applications that you no longer use , as well as all those that have a strange name or that you suspect may access your account in a suspicious way.
- Once you check to delete an app, you will get a pop-up with two extra options that you can check before deleting. We recommend that you check the first option (which removes all traces of said app in your account) and uncheck the second option , since it serves to notify the owners of said application that you have revoked the permissions to your profile.
- Once you have removed all the applications that you consider appropriate, click on ‘ Next ‘.
- All changes will be applied and you can return to the previous menu to choose other privacy options if you see fit.
As a curious fact, once you return to the ‘Check privacy settings’ screen, the status of each of the icons you have worked with will be updated . A small line will appear where they will show us the last time we reviewed said configuration. With this, the Zuckerberg team tries to make us aware of the importance of reviewing the privacy of our account, being something that we should check every few months.
How to prevent third parties from taking control of your account
Facebook has already faced all kinds of million- dollar lawsuits due to the bad practices of third parties that work on the social network. Unfortunately, no matter how hard Facebook employees work to enhance our security and privacy, we will always be responsible for our data .
There have been many users who have deleted their Facebook account when their data was compromised or when they saw how bots had taken control of their profiles . To avoid this type of situation, you should be careful when authorizing an app with your Facebook account.
Here are some of the tips we recommend to protect your account :
check permissions
A friend shares a game or a new viral quiz that everyone is doing. And you get curious. Well, before you grant it access, check what that app wants to do with your account . Sometimes, you can be surprised to see the amount of data that we are authorizing with a simple click. By the way, we have to remind you that this does not only apply to Facebook. You should be careful in all your social networks, especially when it comes to sporadic trends and applications that are starting to be successful and that we do not know their origin.
Remove permissions once you use the app
Now that you’ve done your Harry Potter test and you’re terribly pissed off because the hat told you you’re from Hufflepuff, consider doing all the steps we described a few lines ago to prevent those behind the test from gaining access on your bill.
Be careful, we are not saying that the purpose of the test is to have access to your profile, but sometimes it can happen. Moreover, the creators of said app may not have bad intentions, but… What if a company offered them a large sum of money for the application and had evil purposes? For this reason, the most sensible thing is to revoke the permissions right at the moment you stop using the application .
Check your privacy settings periodically
We know. Facebook is very powerful, but entering its settings is worse than getting lost in a maze. Memorize the path to enter the data settings in Facebook or save this tutorial in your favorite bookmarks. Check every 3 months , for example, your configuration. In the same way, we also recommend that you take a look at the other four options of said menu , as they are also quite interesting.
