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HOW CAN YOU STOP FACEBOOK 'VAMPIRE' APPS FROM HARVESTING YOUR DATA?

One way to try to ensure that your data stays private is to request that your Facebook account be deleted, but that doesn't necessarily protect information you have already supplied.

Many users are willing to trade off the risk of supplying their data for the convenience of staying connected to friends and others on the social network.

So what can you do to protect your data if you want to stay on Facebook?  

To begin, visit the settings area of Facebook found via the drop-down arrow in the top right-hand corner of your profile page on the desktop version of the site.

Then click on the apps tab on the left of the page and click 'show all' at the bottom, then you can see, edit, and remove all the apps you've 'consented' to track your account. 

Now, a likely vast list of all apps that can access and view your own personal data will be revealed. 

To edit or remove these apps from your list of permitted platforms, simply hover the mouse over one of the options.

Clicking the pencil icon will bring up the edit options and clicking the 'X' will bring up the option to remove it. 

For each app that has access to the data, users can go in and customise what permissions are granted to each app. 

For example, many apps use friends list information, profile information and  sometimes even work and educational history. 

Most will already know your email and have access to any information on your profile. 

To restrict access, there is a blue tick option on the right-hand side of different permissions such as email, profile picture, education etc. 

Apps can make some permissions compulsory and these cannot be unchecked and appear as a faded out blue. 

If this makes you uncomfortable then the only way to restrict this data reaching that specific company is to click the 'X' and remove the app. 

Users can make a judgement call on the optional pieces of information too and customise the data that is shared.

To change the data permissions for all of the apps is time consuming, but it is the only way to gain control over the free distribution of personal data.

By scrolling further down the Settings>Apps window there are other options to further customise who can view personal data. 

At this point, it is important to remember that all previous apps were, at some point, granted permission by the user to access their data.

Under the 'Apps Others Use' tab, this gets taken out of the user's hands. 

Here, it shows all the data available for Facebook friends to see. 

Whilst there may be no issue with this being shared with friends and acquaintances on the social media platform, that data is also being seen by the apps your friends use.

These will include apps that a user did not individually grant permission to.

Here, a checklist of options will appear when selected, and users can customise and restrict what non-authorised third-party apps can view.

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