Facebook “Be Like Bob” app goes viral – but is it safe?

Whenever a Facebook app goes viral, we are often asked if it is safe to use, or whether we’d recommend installing it ourselves. The latest viral app is the “What Be Like Bob meme applies to you” app from a company called LolSided.

When installed, the app generates an arbitrary “Be Like Bob” meme with the Facebook user’s name in place of Bob.

Facebook apps can potentially provide a serious privacy risk to Facebook user’s, as the Cambridge Analytica data leak demonstrated. The Cambridge Analytica data leak started when a Facebook app posing as an IQ test was installed by many thousands of users and given permission to obtain their data. That data was subsequently misused by being passed on to a political consulting firm and used to target Facebook users with political adverts.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that all (or most) Facebook apps will result in similar data leaks or malicious consequences. Facebook has vowed to keep much stricter control over app developers, including removing their access if you haven’t interacted with an app for over 3 months. That means it is harder for app developers to misuse your data, but it’s still possible and extreme caution needs to be taken when installing such apps.

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In regards to the “What Be Like Bob meme applies to you” app, it’s actually the main LolSided app you need to install. The first thing you need to take into consideration is how much information the app wants from your account. In this case, the LolSided app just wanted our public information, which includes our name, profile picture, gender and any other information we chose to make public on our account.

The LolSided company are based at LolSided.com, and have a privacy policy and a set of FAQs that include this –

Do you pass any of my personal information on to third parties?
No. Certainly not. We strongly believe that apps and websites should value the trust of their users. As outlined in our Privacy Policy, we do not share personally identifiable information with any third party. The recent Cambridge Analytica news annoyed us just as much as anyone else, as it negatively impacted the trust that people have in Facebook apps in general.

The site also claims that it does not store user information whatsoever, and that results are created “on the fly”.

Essentially, as it often does, it boils down to a matter of trust between the end user and the developer. To LolSided’s credit, they do make an effort to inform users that their information is neither stored anywhere nor sold to anyone, and their app does not request excessive permissions. They also provide a detailed (albeit generic) privacy policy on their website. We couldn’t find any specific reason to suggest that the apps from LolSided are nefarious or presented a serious privacy risk. However it is ultimately up to the Facebook user whether they trust LolSided to adhere to what they say on their website, for the sake of an “entertaining” Facebook post.

Our advice with these types of “entertaining” Facebook apps is always the same. If you don’t trust the developer, don’t install their apps. If you have good reason to believe a Facebook developer is trustworthy and won’t misuse (or store) your personal information, then there should be little risk involved.