Allowing third-party apps also allows those apps to scrape and store user info, which is what Cambridge Analytica did.
Accessing an API is not scraping. Scraping is still possible without an API. All CA did was access public information. The problem in that case is not access to public information, it is intentional paid disinformation.
I probably used the wrong words… What I meant is that given API access, a malicious third-party can gather a large amount of data and store it in a way that goes against the service’s terms of service, without the proper privacy guarantees (e.g. user data being deleted if they delete their account). Obviously that’s a problem for a social network where people can post a lot of friends-only posts.
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I don’t want it both ways.
Accessing an API is not scraping. Scraping is still possible without an API. All CA did was access public information. The problem in that case is not access to public information, it is intentional paid disinformation.
I probably used the wrong words… What I meant is that given API access, a malicious third-party can gather a large amount of data and store it in a way that goes against the service’s terms of service, without the proper privacy guarantees (e.g. user data being deleted if they delete their account). Obviously that’s a problem for a social network where people can post a lot of friends-only posts.