Facebook will subject personality quiz apps to ‘heightened scrutiny’

Which delayed half-measure response to a giant privacy catastrophe are you?

A) Take serious and measured steps to address the underlying issues at hand.

B) Shrug and ignore it because your business model depends on surveillance capitalism.

C) Pay more attention to the personality quiz apps on your platform. 

If you answered “C,” then congratulations! You’re Facebook! The company announced today via blog post that it’s removing access for a number of APIs, and, in addition, personality quiz apps will get a closer look going forward.

Anyone familiar with the Cambridge Analytica scandal — in which a researcher used a personality quiz to gather data on Facebook users and their friends — can now rest easy knowing that the barn door has finally been partially closed. 

“[Our] Facebook Platform Policies are being updated to include provisions that apps with minimal utility, such as personality quizzes, may not be permitted on the platform,” notes the blog post. 

The linked Facebook platform policies page takes things a step further.  

“[Apps] that provide (or claim to provide) users with assessments of personality, personal attributes, character traits, behavioral tendencies, or whose core functionality otherwise involves making predictions about who the user is, may not be allowed.”

In other words, some quiz apps will still be allowed, while others won’t. Totally clear, right? 

When reached for comment, a Facebook spokesperson did indeed confirm that personality quiz apps aren’t going anywhere. Instead, they just won’t have as much of a free rein (whatever that means). 

“[Quiz] apps are not banned,” explained the spokesperson over email, “but they will be subject to heightened scrutiny.”

Phew. We feel A) So much better now, B) Excited to take more personality quizzes, or C) This changes nothing.