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I don't see how this is true any more than it is for a bank API. I just want API access to the content --I wrote-- that they are monetizing (even if it's just

I don't see how this is true any more than it is for a bank API. I just want API access to the content --I wrote-- that they are monetizing (even if it's just a lure to get my friends on their platform), and if my friends grant me access to something they have written or shared, the API should allow that. I agree that there are likely ways this can be used to do all kinds of terrible thing. But so could bank APIs.

SpicyLemonZest 7y ago
And that was the full set of things that Cambridge Analytica got API access to; the data of people who authorized the app, and any data their friends shared with them. (In fact, they actually got a bit less than that; for instance, Facebook had already locked down the API to prevent apps from seeing email addresses.) If you’re taking the position that Cambridge Analytica wasn’t actually that bad, and it’s worth the trade for a better developer experience, I think that’s an intensely unpopular but defensible claim.
- malvosenior 7y ago
  > If you’re taking the position that Cambridge Analytica wasn’t actually that bad, and it’s worth the trade for a better developer experience, I think that’s an intensely unpopular but defensible claim. I'll take that position. The media made a huge deal out of Cambridge Analytica but it didn't impact FB usage at all, so I don't think it's as intensely unpopular as you suggest. On most social media services, your friend list is public. I think people who feel that's somehow sensitive information shouldn't be on social media in the first place because there's nothing stopping any one of their friends from sharing all of your info with whoever they want.