Does setting up your privacy settings really keep your personal data from leaking? ↑↑

Not long ago, many bloggers and news outlets wrote at length about the privacy risks of Facebook itself. So many users went and set up their "privacy settings," thinking that as long as they did, nothing would go wrong. In reality, though, the huge number of games and personality quizzes on Facebook can also cause your personal data to leak. Many users don't know this, so let's analyze it below.

Why do mini-games and personality quizzes also lead to data leaks?

Let’s use personality quizzes as an example. Have you ever wondered how those quiz programs work? They don’t ask you to fill in any information, so how can they run a quiz at all? I looked into how Facebook personality quizzes are built, and they basically pull data related to you from your Facebook profile and wall posts for analysis. For example, I once saw a “fan analysis” app that tells you which people you’re closest to. It does this by checking which of your Facebook friends comment on your status updates the most and who gives you the most likes. Some also do “relationship analysis” using similar methods. In short, these quiz programs can access your personal data. I could easily write a personality quiz program, recommend it to everyone, and get the data of every person who used it. It isn’t hard, and it can happen without anyone noticing.

Someone might ask: I never gave it permission to access this data, so isn’t that illegal?

In fact, you did give it permission to access this data. You just didn’t notice. Many users don’t read the “permission agreement” carefully and just click “Agree” or “Allow”… The first time you use one of those apps, Facebook shows an “authorization request” window that tells you what data the app will get, and asks whether you agree. I think many people just click agree without ever noticing it…

Some people also ask: Aren’t these apps all developed by Facebook? Why worry? Doesn’t Facebook’s official team check the apps?

Sorry, you’ve got it wrong. Facebook’s app platform works a lot like the App Store. Anyone can develop apps (they could be real developers, or they could be hackers). A developer writes a program, submits it to Facebook, and it can start running. Facebook doesn’t design these apps itself. And to be honest, Facebook doesn’t really check the security of these programs. Maybe they check, but certainly not in detail. Think about it: thousands or even tens of thousands of apps are submitted every day. Is it really possible for Facebook to check every single one? Of course not…

How to Protect Yourself?

Of course, it's hard to tell everyone to stop using those personality quizzes. But before you use one, at least read its "authorization request" to see which of your data it takes. Also, don't click on every fun-looking personality quiz right away. Put simply, you end up advertising on your own wall... and sometimes it even posts on other people's walls...

Also, after you’ve played a personality quiz, go to [Account] → [Privacy Settings] → [Apps and Websites] and revoke that quiz’s permission. You’ve already tried it anyway, so there’s no need to keep letting those apps take your personal data or bother your friends, right?

Delete the apps you don’t use ↓↓