Applying to ThreatExchange

Create a Facebook App

Before using the ThreatExchange API, you'll need to create a Facebook app.

  • Log in to Facebook using the account you'll use to create the app. This must be a real Facebook account.
  • Go to developers.facebook.com and create a new app. (If you don't see "My Apps" then make sure you're logged in.)
  • Note that your organization's name must appear in the app name. For example, if your company's name is FizzBuzz, some nice app names include "FizzBuzz ThreatExchange", "FizzBuzz Anti-Malware Team", "FizzBuzz Site Integrity", etc.
  • The contact email address you supply must belong to the company owning the app: for example, firstname.lastname@fizzbuzz.com.
  • Also note that we cannot approve apps owned by a government entity or educational institution. The latter includes individual research projects.
  • Take the app out of development mode. In the App Review section, enable the "Do you want to make this app available to the public" check box. (Note: once your ThreatExchange app is approved, only other members of ThreatExchange will be able to see its existence -- no one else will. It's a little confusing that this selection is called "public".)
  • Please add team members as admins or developers on the app -- the roles "tester" and "analytics user" are not meaningful for ThreatExchange apps.
  • Please contact us at threatexchange@fb.com with any issues.

Terms of use

Please see the Terms and Conditions -- depending on your company, you may wish to obtain signoff from your company's legal team.

Add the ThreatExchange product

Start the submission

Fill out app settings


Notes:

  • ThreatExchange uses the app-ID framework but there is no installable app per se.
  • Enter in URLs appropriate for your organization, and any company logo for the "app icon".
  • Feel free to use the category "Lifestyle".
  • Click through the personal and business verification flows. (One or the other of them needs to complete -- as of April 2020 individual-verification flows are stalled so be sure to try business verification. Please contact us at threatexchange@fb.com if we can help here.)
  • For "platform", simply use "website" and your company's URL.

Fill out your use-case

Make the app public

... if you haven't already done so.

Submit for review

Notes:

  • If you get a message about needing to upload an Android or iOS version of your app (ThreatExchange does not use installable apps), please go back to Settings -> Basic and make sure that for "platform", you have used "website" with your company's URL.

Once review is complete

The name ThreatExchange appears with a green checkmark, and you see the subproducts "Descriptors", "Tags", etc. in addition to "App Review" which you had seen up until now.


Do a power-search for tag "testing" -- you should see results. Please contact us at threatexchange@fb.com with any issues.

Welcome to ThreatExchange!

Next, continue with the Getting Started page!