Timeline:
Start Time: 06/11/24 11:01 AM PT
End Time: 06/13/24 2:18 PM PT
Customer Impact:
Meta continuously tests all third-party applications that utilize their Facebook integration or authentication to ensure companies are complying with Meta’s policies. Meta frequently tests Hearsay’s Facebook integration and authentication, and Hearsay always provides the necessary information to our partners at Meta to pass their third-party application testing process. During the most recent test of Meta’s Facebook authentication, Meta performed an ad-hoc review of Hearsay’s platform with invalid credentials that were not provided by Hearsay, and without contacting Hearsay. This resulted in Meta deactivating Hearsay’s Facebook integration on June 11, 2024 without notice when those credentials did not work. Hearsay immediately appealed the decision to deactivate our integration. Meta continued to respond over the next two days trying to retest our authentication, leading them to their own Meta error page, resulting in numerous back-and-forths of Hearsay clearly outlining and explaining to Meta that Meta needs to reactivate our account for them to test accurately.
For additional context, Meta has reduced its support staff, which we feel has significantly impacted the size and availability of their API and App Review teams. This translates to longer than desired response times for support issues, impacting vendors like Hearsay and end users like Hearsay’s customers.
Resolution:
Hearsay was able to work with Meta’s testing team to get them to reactivate Hearsay’s account on June 13, 2024.
Future Improvements:
Hearsay will deprecate using Facebook as an authentication option and eventually remove it altogether in favor of more common authentication options (e.g., Microsoft or Google) for those without SAML providers. Hearsay is also removing our mobile applications from the scope of Meta reviews to minimize the footprint of our services subject to periodical reviews, and to reduce the likelihood of shutdown without warning.