Remove Third Party Apps from Facebook 

by John Rudy

Unless you live under a rock, you know that Facebook interfaces with many apps that use your Facebook ID as their login.  You know when you sometimes try to log into a site and see something like, “would you like to log in through Facebook?”  This can be helpful.  As with many of my articles, I was triggered to write this by reading Kim Komando’s blog, something I recommend to all.   (https://www.komando.com/)

Facebook is now saying that they will automatically delete apps you have not used in 3 months (we’ll see if that happens), but they are  also giving you a mechanism to delete many app links in bulk.  I did this and found that there were linkages to almost two dozen apps, many of which I knew nothing about.  Here is the process I followed:

1. Log into Facebook and at the top you will see a triangle .  Click on the triangle
2. This will give you a pull-down menu (I’m showing a piece of it) and one of the options is “settings”. Click on it.

3.That will bring up a new screen which includes the word “apps”. Click on Apps.  This will bring up a screen with A LOT OF APPS.  There may only be room to show you a portion of them so you can go through the next step multiple times.

To the right of each app is a small box, very hard to see.  Click on those apps you do not need/want and then at the top of the page there is a box called REMOVE.  Click on it, and the app links will be removed.  I removed 23 app links this morning.

1. On the same screen where you clicked on APPS there is a place to click on PRIVACY. There are eight options you might want to look at to determine whether you want to limit who can see what you have.  Of course this restriction didn’t seem to hold when Facebook provided user data to a third party.

There is a lesson here for all of this:  anything you put on the computer, and that includes all emails you send or receive, texts and pictures you send or receive, should be assumed to be in the public record.  This is why I have recommended that you put a freeze on your credit bureau accounts, and that you use credit cards NOT debit cards.  The credit card companies will protect you if someone steals your card.  When I use a credit card in a restaurant, I ensure that it stays where I can see it, and is not taken to a back room for processing.  Same at gas stations.  Today, we all need to exercise caution.

A long-time computer expert and guide, John provides his helpful hints in this monthly BOLLI Matters feature.  In the comment box below, provide questions or comments for John on any computer/tech topic.

john.rudy@alum.mit.edu (781-861-0402