Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
James Martin/ CNET.
Some Facebook users have actually been offering the social media network access to their phone activity in exchange for cash as part of a research study job given that 2016, according to a Tuesday report by TechCrunch.
Facebook, which critics state isn’t doing enough to secure the personal privacy of its users, has actually been offering individuals in between the ages of 13 and 35 a payment of $20 monthly plus recommendation charges for their phone and web activity. Facebook has the ability to gain access to this information after users set up a “Facebook Research” VPN app.
The business has the ability to see web searches, place info, personal messages in social networks apps, and other information, Guardian Mobile Firewall security expert Will Strafach informed TechCrunch. The research study’s individuals are even asked to screenshot a page revealing what they bought from Amazon, according to TechCrunch.
Facebook is closing down the Facebook Research app for Apple iOS users, according to an upgrade to the TechCrunch story.
Apple on Wednesday validated that the app broke its policies. “Facebook has actually been utilizing their subscription [in Apple’s Enterprise Developer Program] to disperse a data-collecting app to customers, which is a clear breach of their arrangement with Apple,” it stated in an emailed declaration.
The app resembles Facebook’s Onavo Protect app that Apple prohibited from the App Store for breaching its personal privacy guidelines, according to TechCrunch. Facebook got rid of the Onavo app inAugust
Facebook validated that it was running a research study program to discover individuals’s phone use.
“Like many companies, we invite people to participate in research that helps us identify things we can be doing better,” a Facebook representative stated in an emailed declaration. “Since this research is aimed at helping Facebook understand how people use their mobile devices, we’ve provided extensive information about the type of data we collect and how they can participate. We don’t share this information with others and people can stop participating at any time.”
< div class ="shortcode video v2" data-video-playlist="[{" id="" facebook="" cross="" a="" line="" with="" its="" ios="" research="" app="" the="" show:="" sought="" extensive="" personal="" info="" from="" volunteers="" for="" month="" in="" violation="" of="" apple="" policy.="" news="" video="">
Watch this:
Did Facebook cross a line with its iOS research app?
2:09
Beta-testing services BetaBound, uTest and Applause helped distribute the app, and they don’t initially mention on the sign-up pages for the social media study that they’re letting Facebook access participants’ data. But if minors try to join the study through a page administered by Applause, they have to get their parents to sign a form that mentions Facebook’s involvement in the study.Â
Facebook said there’s nothing secret or underhanded about the app.
“It wasn’t ‘spying’ as all of the people who signed up to participate went through a clear on-boarding process asking for their permission and were paid to participate,” the spokesperson said.
The company said that less than 5 percent of the participants in the research program were teens, and that all of them had signed parental consent forms. Since 2016, fewer than 150,000 people participated in the market research program, according to Facebook.Â
BetaBound, uTest and Applause didn’t respond to a request for comment.
CNET’s Zoey Chong contributed to this report.
First published Jan. 29, 6:47 a.m. PT.
Updates, Jan. 30 at 5:10 a.m.: Adds Facebook’s statement and word that Facebook has pulled the app for iOS users; 7:32 a.m.:Â Includes confirmation from Apple that the Facebook app violated its policy; Jan. 31 at 10:10 a.m.: Adds the number of people who participated in Facebook’s market research program.Â
Cambridge Analytica: Everything you need to know about Facebook’s data mining scandal.
Security: Â Stay up-to-date on the latest in breaches, hacks, fixes and all those cybersecurity issues that keep you up at night.
