Facebook HOAX warns of two apps run by “extreme hackers” – Fact Check

A warning is spreading online that warns again using two apps because they are controlled by “extreme hackers” that will sell your personal information on the black market.

The warning quotes two apps, “to see what you would look like as the opposite sex” and “what you look like as a bald person”. An example of the warning from February 2018 can be seen below –

WARNING FACEBOOK
There is a website link travelling around Facebook at an extraordinary rate which allows you “to see what you would look like as the opposite sex” and also one that lets you see what you look like “as a bald person”
DO NOT enter these links, they are controlled by extreme hackers who are now gaining control of people’s personal information and selling it on the black market. As soon as you have clicked share to Facebook it gives these hackers instant access to your own personal details and puts your family and friends personal details at risk.
PLEASE SHARE TO MAKE YOUR FRIENDS AWARE

The bottom line with this warning is that while we do generally recommend avoiding many “entertaining” Facebook apps because they do potentially put some of your personal information at risk, the claim that these particular apps are in control of “extreme hackers” (we’re not entirely sure when a hacker becomes an extreme hacker?) who are gaining control of people’s personal information is somewhat misleading and overly alarmist. There is no evidence that the companies behind these apps are nefarious, but that isn’t to say we’d (personally) particularly trust them, either!

We have explained before that installing Facebook apps from untrusted developers isn’t something we recommend. That is because when you install the app on your Facebook account, it can access certain information about you, depending on the permissions it asks for when you agree to install it. The app developer then has access to that information, and can potentially use it or share it with other companies. While that information isn’t sensitive information like your Facebook password or banking information, it can include personal information like your email address, photos, and date of birth. I.e. not information you want in the hands of people you don’t know or trust.

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As for the two apps mentioned in this warning…

The app about appearing as the opposite sex comes from a popular Facebook app company called Kueez. When installing the app, you give it permission to access your public profile (anything public on your profile,) your photos, your date of birth and your email address. Kueez have a large number of popular apps on Facebook, and to their credit they do have a privacy policy dictating how they treat your data.

This is what you accept when you install the “opposite sex” app form Kueez.

However that privacy policy does say that they can share your data with third party companies, including their affiliates. We also don’t like that the people behind the website don’t make much about themselves known. The Contact page goes to an online form and doesn’t provide a phone number, email address or physical address, and the web domain has a privacy lock, meaning you can’t see who it is registered to or where.

While the company certainly don’t fit the profile of “extreme hackers”, we generally don’t advise users install Facebook apps unless they know and trust the developer of the app. We have no evidence that this company sells the personal information of their users to other companies, or engages in any type of activity that could be construed as hacking.

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The app about seeing what you would look like bald comes from a similar and popular app company called QuizzStar, who also have little contact information available, and who also have a privacy policy. However, just like Kueez, there is no guarantee that QuizzStar would honour their privacy policy.

To surmise, there is no evidence that these companies are run by “extreme hackers” or that they sell your personal information on the “black market”. Those assertions are quite alarmist and vague. Yes, these apps do have access to some information about you based on the information on your Facebook account, but you can see what information they want access to when you install the app, which you can accept or reject as necessary.

Should you agree to install such apps? That is up to you and whether you think you can trust the app developer. Personally, we don’t install any apps unless we explicitly trust the developer. Such apps are often fleeting in their entertainment value and it’s just not worth the risk of having them access our personal information. If you have installed apps from developers you don’t trust, we recommend uninstalling them. Read more about the potential dangers of Facebook apps in our article here.

Update:
Since authoring this article, a spokesperson for Kueez reached out to us to confirm the allegations in the Facebook message are false, and provided some information on Kueez and its parent company –

Kueez doesn’t store any personal information about the user. What we do keep is the user ID, Email, Name and Result photo in order to provide a better user experience (like recommendations) which is quite standard.
…
Kueez is a personalized-games website, which utilizes Facebook’s API in order to create more entertaining results, that integrate the user’s world into his game results. This provides for a fun and engaging experience.
The website is owned by Yoto Media Group LTD. Yoto is a global content company, which was founded in 2016 by Or Katzenelson and Ori Mendi, and is currently one of the world’s largest publishers.
Kueez is part of a successful network, and has over 2.5M followers on Facebook and a Million subscribers to the company’s ChatBot which provides them with daily and on-demand games.