This weekend Facebook shut down some applications that were found by the WSJ to have been sharing Facebook User IDs (a unique profile identifier Facebook uses in its APIs) to independent ad networks and internet tracking services such as RapLeaf.
According to the Journal, these UID transferal issues were the primary reason Facebook took down apps run by the social gaming company LOLApps on Friday, including its popular flagship “Critter Island.” Two days later, according to a freshly minted blogpost, all LOLApps games are now officially back on the social site.
From the LOLApps blog:
“It has been a big weekend in the news for privacy and Facebook applications. As tonight’s Facebook developer blog post states, ‘In most cases, developers did not intend to pass this information, but did so because of the technical details of how browsers work.” This statement applies to Lolapps.
When we were informed of the issue the relationship that put us into this category was immediately dissolved. Since Lolapps was founded in 2008, we have always been committed to Facebook’s platform policies and will continue to be as we grow.”
While Zynga heavy hitters like “Farmville” and “Texas Hold ‘Em” poker were also on the WSJ list, they did not experience similar service disruptions. LOLApps would not comment on whether it has actually corrected the issue in order to get reinstated onto the Facebook platform.
The severity and risks of UID transferral are still being debated.
Entertaining over 100 million users per month, Lolapps provides the largest network of social games and applications on Facebook. Our most recent game Ravenwood Fair is currently in the top 10 games on Facebook with over 11MM monthly unique users. We make social games and applications that are unique, entertaining and make people laugh… out loud. We began with virtual quizzes and gifting, and we’ve quickly become one of the most recognizable social developers in the space. Our Quiz...
Facebook is the world’s largest social network, with over 1 billion monthly active users. Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg in February 2004, initially as an exclusive network for Harvard students. It was a huge hit: in 2 weeks, half of the schools in the Boston area began demanding a Facebook network. Zuckerberg immediately recruited his friends Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes, and Eduardo Saverin to help build Facebook, and within four months, Facebook added 30 more college networks. The original...
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