In response to pressure from the American Civil Liberties Union, Facebook announced that it will clarify its developer policy to explicitly prohibit the use of Facebook or Instagram data in surveillance tools.The ACLU has revealed several instances of developers using information gleaned from Facebook’s APIs to create surveillance tools for law enforcement.
Facebook has cut ties with a few developers that make surveillance tools, and worked with several others to bring their apps into compliance with the policy.
Right now, Facebook relies on automated and manual detection, as well as reports from users and advocacy groups that violate the policy.
The ACLU said Facebook and Instagram should institute both human and technical auditing mechanisms designed to effectively identify potential violations of company policies, both by developers and their end users, and take swift action for violations.
Developers are required to disclose what they plan to do with Facebook data, and the company reviews apps to make sure they comply. Facebook says it also conducts broad audits in some cases to ensure developers don’t misuse data.
