Facebook Suspends 200 Apps in Review of Cambridge Analytica Scandal

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Facebook has suspended about 200 apps as it investigates the misuse of private data in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, the company’s Vice President Ime Archibong said on Monday.

”To date, thousands of apps have been investigated and around 200 have been suspended — pending a thorough investigation into whether they did in fact misuse any data,” he said in a statement.

Archibong promised to ban all apps that misuse data if evidence of such violations is found.

READ MORE: Expert Details Cambridge Analytica Investigation, Data Misuse

As Archibong explained, Facebook's investigation has two phases, the first of which is a comprehensive review of every app that had access to relevant Facebook data. During the second phase of the probe, Facebook will conduct interviews and request information on apps that raise concerns, and will perform on-site inspections if necessary, he said.

“There is a lot more work to be done to find all the apps that may have misused people’s Facebook data – and it will take time. We are investing heavily to make sure this investigation is as thorough and timely as possible,” Archibong said.

Facebook has in recent weeks become embroiled in a personal data breach scandal. In late March, media reported that the personal information of about 50 million Facebook users had been harvested by Cambridge Analytica without the social media site's consent during the 2016 US presidential campaign. While reportedly working for multiple political campaigns, Cambridge Analytica gathered data from these millions of social media accounts to develop a mechanism that would predict and influence the behavior of voters.