Until recently, shoppers and app users could log in to just about any site or app using Facebook credentials, but it seems that’s all about to change. Big retailers such as Nike, Patagonia, Dell, and many others have removed the login with Facebook option amid data privacy and security concerns.
“We really just looked at how many people were choosing to use their social media identity to sign in, and that just has shifted over time,” Felch said. “One thing that we see across the industry is more and more security risks or account takeovers, whether that’s Instagram or Facebook or whatever it might be, and I just think we’re observing people making a decision to isolate that social media account versus having other connections to it.” Says Jen Felch, Dell’s chief digital and chief information officer.
The disappearing social login is another sign of consumer loss of trust in Facebook (and other social platforms) after a host of data privacy and security concerns. Most recently Irelands Data Protection Commissioner issued a 405 million euro fine to Instagram following an investigation that revealed insufficient data protection and security for users aged 13-17. The same regulatory agency also fined Meta 17 million euros after a data breach in March, and last year 225 million euros for violations by Whatsapp.
Does that mean that third-party logins for websites are going away? Not really, many companies still allow login through Apple, Google, and linked social media logins. As we see increased consumer awareness of data privacy and decreased return on investment for companies using these login methods, it may not make sense to continue to support them.