Facebook mulling apps to allow anonymous log-ins

04 Apr 2014

In a move that appears to be contrary to the current trend, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg  told Bloomberg that some of the company's new apps would allow users to log-in anonymously as he felt that people "don't need to keep on only doing real identity things."

According to a report by Re/Code, Facebook executives had met the team of Secret, an app that allows anonymous sharing of information by users, across their group of friends.

The publication said the two companies were in talks with each other to figure out how they could work together, citing people familiar with the matter as the source for the information.

The report said both Facebook and Secret declined to comment on the matter.

The report also clarified that rumours of a $100-million offer from Facebook to Secret were not true, as claimed by the sources.

With apps like Secret users can engage in more open interactions as they do not need to reveal their identity and share personal information with the companies running the apps. The app adds contacts in the mobile phone's phonebook, and also builds a network without requiring the user to sign up or create a user ID.

Zuckerberg also told Bloomberg, that the "new apps might be like Instagram, which doesn't require users to log in with Facebook credentials or share pictures with friends on the social network. He added that the scenario was now a 'little bit more balanced,' referring to anonymous apps.