Facebook bans app, misuses 4 million users' data

Facebook has banned the personality testing application from its social network due to concern that data from four million users has been misused.

The social network yesterday reported that it halted the “Personality” application after finding that user data was given to scholars and other companies “with only limited protection”.

Facebook will inform application users that their data has been misused. The decision followed a recent scandal with Cambridge Analytics' collection and data processing company.

Facebook said that “my personnel” was essentially enabled” before 2012. It is not clear why these measures have only now been taken.

The Cambridge Analytics scandal prompted a broad Facebook investigation, which said it had suspended more than 400 applications due to concerns about exchange of data.