Facebook has been the centerpiece of the online privacy debate for years, but the biggest social network in the world just unveiled a new policy that might be the first step to restoring users’ trust. Mark Zuckerberg took the stage at Facebook’s f8 event on Wednesday to announce that Facebook users will be able to sign into third-party apps anonymously in the near future, without revealing the contents of their accounts.
“Some people are scared of pressing this blue button,” Zuckerberg said, in reference to the ‘Log in with Facebook’ button which appears in so many applications. “If you’re using an app that you don’t completely trust or you’re worried might spam your friends, you’re not going to give it a lot of permissions.”
Rather than forcing users to sort through privacy options once they’ve already given an app access to their profiles, Facebook will allow cautious downloaders the opportunity to withhold their information.
“Even if you don’t want an app to know who you are yet, you still want a streamlined process for signing in,” Zuckerberg continued. Once you’ve logged in anonymously for the first time, you’ll be able to sync that data with across all your devices, meaning anonymity won’t cost you convenience. From now on, you’ll be able to “try apps without fear.”
