Facebook clamps down on mobile data abuse

Leading mobile analytics firms, which count egaming companies as clients, removed from service following audit

 

Facebook has removed a number of mobile analytics firms from its Mobile Measurement Program (MMP) after a third-party audit revealed they had breached the conditions of service.

A Facebook spokesperson confirmed to eGR Mobile Intelligence that a number of program partners, some of which count egaming companies as clients, had been removed after a review of its practices.

“These partners can no longer work with marketers on Facebook. We have an audit system in place for this very reason. We take our contracts seriously, and will continue to act swiftly anytime we find out they are being violated,” the spokesperson said.

Mobile analytics firms Kontagent and HasOffers, which had been contracted by social gaming companies such as Zynga, Spooky Cool Labs, WMS and Caesars, have been named as amongst those removed from the MMP.

Data collected by Facebook’s MMP includes a user’s lifetime value and return on advertising investment, however identities are kept anonymous.

Breaches are understood to include companies storing MMP data for longer than allowed by Facebook’s data usage policy and failures to partition MMP data away from all other collected data.

The audit also found several terms of service to be out of date and failed to notify customers that they must notify end users of data collection practices.

In a public statement, Kontagent CEO Andy Yang confirmed that his company had been removed from the MMP and would no longer be able to access Facebook data to attribute application installs.

“I completely respect the audits that Facebook conducts to ensure their partners are properly compliant,” Yang said.

“We will address each of the issues noted in Facebook’s audit despite not being a member of the MMP.”