Earlier this week Facebook began to notify the estimated 87 million people who had their personal data harvested as a result of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
However, while many of us anxiously play the waiting game, there’s a simple way to manually check whether you’re among the victims.
Facebook has provided a web link which will tell you whether you or any of your friends logged into the “This Is Your Digital Life” app.
Remember, those who authorised the app not only handed over their own data, but gave it permission to access data from their entire friends’ list — people who had never encountered the app.
Related: How to delete your Facebook account permanently
If you’re in the clear, the link will say: “Based on our available records, neither you nor your friends logged into “This Is Your Digital Life.” As a result, it doesn’t appear your Facebook information was shared with Cambridge Analytica by “This Is Your Digital Life.””
If you’ve been embroiled in the scandal, Facebook will inform you here, but isn’t naming and shaming the friend guilty of signing over your personal data.
Here’s how the page looks:
The link also encourages users to review the information being shared with other apps and websites.
Importantly, the company has now disabled any apps you haven’t used in the last three months.
When I checked I had no active apps, but plenty under the disabled tab. These can be manually removed or reactivated if you so desire.
The scandal continues to engulf the social network, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg on yet another apology tour, promising things will be different in the future.
It comes amid calls for Facebook and other social networks to be tightly regulated by governments on both sides of the Atlantic.
Do you still trust Facebook? Or are you continuing to use the service despite its faults? Drop us a line @TrustedReviews on Twitter.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.