Why Facebook is shutting down some of its popular apps

As a social media platform, Facebook collected data from its billion-plus users.

In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, users now people understand the kind of data that they gave to the social media giant, the kind of data it shared with other companies, and some of the ways it impacted the world around us.

However, Facebook doesn’t just control its own social media platform. The company has many more platforms to engage and connect with users, such as WhatsApp, Instagram, Hello, Moves, tbh, and others.

In light of the data scandal and the new (stricter) privacy regulations being implemented by governments in the European Union (EU) and the US, Facebook seems to be auditing its data and making decisions that will help the company better protect users in the future.

Just last week, the company announced that it is shutting down three apps that it ran in the US and in other regions. Namely, Hello – launched in 2015, Moves – acquired in 2014, and tbh – acquired last year. Both Moves and thb were purchased for an undisclosed sum.

According to a note on the company’s website, the company will “delete the user data from all three of these apps within 90 days”.

The company said that the apps were being shut down “due to low usage”. However, from the looks of it, it seems that the three apps were doing alright in their own right – but were shuttered to avoid issues with data privacy and security per new laws.

According to the data curated by the Mobile Marketer, Hello had 570,000 installs, while tbh had 6.4 million, and Moves 13 million.

However, all three apps collected a significant amount of personal data, and could potentially cause concern to senior management and headaches for managers.

The social media giant is working hard to make sure it complies with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, and it’s various efforts seem to tie into a vision to gain more control over its data.

“We know some people are still using these apps and will be disappointed […] But we need to prioritize our work so we don’t spread ourselves too thin. And it’s only by trial and error that we’ll create great social experiences for people,” said an official press release.