Facebook’s planned customer-data change called ‘land grab’ by publishers

In a controversial and as yet secret move, Facebook has proposed a policy change in the way it handles user data for mobile advertising. The move has alarmed some major Facebook publishing partners who see it as a power play and believe it will be bad for consumer privacy.

The problem

The publishers, speaking under the condition of anonymity, claim that after the change goes through on Nov. 4, Facebook will be putting them in an untenable position: Either they choose to forego mobile Facebook advertising, or they turn over to Facebook much of the data about customers installing their apps, including information the publishers say should be their own proprietary data. And for many big game publishers who are extremely dependent on Facebook for acquiring new users, they will effectively be forced into the latter option.