First, people gave away their own data and their friends data to apps. Facebook does not just give this data away to whomever can make an API request. It is als

First, people gave away their own data and their friends data to apps. Facebook does not just give this data away to whomever can make an API request. It is also against Facebook’s terms of service to sell or misuse that data, and it is now obvious how naive Facebook was in thinking that this would be enough to contain apps from doing so. Nevertheless, I think Facebook’s intentions were in good faith in that they were hoping other apps and their users could benefit (in a non-monetary way) from having limited access to user data. Second, Google grants just as much access to your data via API, if not more, than Facebook. Using Google’s APIs, you can grant full access and control to your email, calendar, contacts, etc. If you think companies aren’t currently abusing that in ways that make Cambridge Analytica look like children, you would be mistaken.