Facebook to sunset ability to register, login to apps using only a phone number or email

Facebook is ending its Account Kit function next year, a feature developers could integrate into their apps to allow users to register and log into an app using either their phone number or email address without having to enter a password.

Access to the Account Kit ended for new apps on September 9. For developers who already have the Account Kit integrated into their existing apps, the function will cease to exist on March 9, 2020. Any app developers using the Account Kit will have until June 9, 2020 to retrieve user data collected via the Account Kit function.

Why we should care

For app marketers, the Account Kit made it easy for users to sign-up to use an app and then log into the app without having to enter a password — a feature that helped drive higher app engagement numbers. But, with the ongoing trend to protect user data, such a feature put the user’s information (phone number and email) at risk depending on who had control of the app’s data.

By removing this feature, Facebook is taking more responsibility for how user information is being managed and boosting its user privacy and security measures. App marketers who relied on the easy access it offered users will now have to implement new methods for registrations and logins. They will also have to find new ways to collect the user information they had access to via the Account Kit function.

It’s worth noting the Account Kit is separate from the Facebook Login function for developers, a feature that allows users to log into an app using their Facebook login info and gives app developers the ability to request permission to access user data via the app.

More on the news

• While access to the Account Kit ended on September 9 for new apps, existing integrations will continue to function normally until the March 9, 2020 deprecation date.
• Facebook is also reducing the daily SMS limit for Account Kit users to 1,000 messages per app ID per day on December 9, 2019.
• To retrieve user data collected via the Account Kit, developers must go to the Account Kit page for their app within the App Dashboard and click on the “Request Account Kit Data” button on the bottom of the page.

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About The Author

Amy Gesenhues

Amy Gesenhues was a senior editor for Third Door Media, covering the latest news and updates for MarTech Today, Marketing Land and Search Engine Land. From 2009 to 2012, she was an award-winning syndicated columnist for a number of daily newspapers from New York to Texas. With more than ten years of marketing management experience, she has contributed to a variety of traditional and online publications, including MarketingProfs, SoftwareCEO, and Sales and Marketing Management Magazine. Read more of Amy's articles.