{"id":14363,"date":"2019-03-01T03:22:41","date_gmt":"2019-03-01T03:22:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rsoftsolution.com\/blog\/facebook-admits-18-of-research-spyware-users-were-teens-not.html"},"modified":"2019-03-01T03:22:41","modified_gmt":"2019-03-01T03:22:41","slug":"facebook-admits-18-of-research-spyware-users-were-teens-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbsitsoftwaresolution.in\/blog\/facebook-admits-18-of-research-spyware-users-were-teens-not.html","title":{"rendered":"Facebook admits 18% of Research spyware users were teens, not"},"content":{"rendered":"

Facebook <\/a> has changed its story after initially trying to downplay how it targeted teens with its Research program<\/a> that a TechCrunch investigation revealed was paying them gift cards to monitor all their mobile app usage and browser traffic. \u201cLess than 5 percent of the people who chose to participate in this market research program were teens\u201d a Facebook spokesperson told TechCrunch and many other news outlets in a damage control effort 7 hours after we published our report on January 29th. At the time,\u00a0 Facebook claimed that it had removed its Research app from iOS. The next morning we learned that wasn\u2019t true, as Apple had already forcibly blocked the Facebook Research app for violating its Enterprise Certificate program that supposed to reserved for companies distributing internal apps to employees.<\/p>\n

It turns out that wasn\u2019t the only time Facebook deceived the public in its response regarding the Research VPN scandal. TechCrunch has obtained Facebook\u2019s unpublished February 21st response to questions about the Research program in a letter from Senator Mark Warner, <\/a> who wrote to CEO Mark Zuckerberg that \u201cFacebook\u2019s apparent lack of full transparency with users \u2013 particularly in the context of \u2018research\u2019 efforts \u2013 has been a source of frustration for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the response from Facebook\u2019s VP of US public policy Kevin Martin, the company admits that (emphasis ours) \u201cAt the time we ended the Facebook Research App on Apple\u2019s iOS platform, less than 5 percent of the people sharing data with us through this program were teens. Analysis shows that number is about 18 percent when you look at the complete lifetime of the program, and also add people who had become inactive and uninstalled the app.\u201d<\/strong> So 18 percent of research testers were teens. It was only less than 5 percent when Facebook got caught. Given users age 13 to 35 were eligible for Facebook\u2019s Research program, 13 to 18 year olds made of 22 percent of the age range. That means Facebook clearly wasn\u2019t trying to minimize teen involvement, nor were they just a tiny fraction of users.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 APRIL 10: Facebook co-founder, Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before a combined Senate Judiciary and Commerce committee hearing in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill April 10, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Warner asked Facebook \u201cDo you think any use reasonable understood Facebook was using this data for commercial purposes includingto track competitors?\u201d Facebook response indicates it never told Research users anything about tracking \u201ccompetitors\u201d, and instead dances around the question. Facebook says the registration process told users the data would help the company \u201cunderstand how people use mobile apps,\u201d \u201cimprove . . . services,\u201d and \u201cintroduce new features for millions of people around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Facebook had also told reporters on January 29th regarding teens\u2019 participation, \u201cAll of them with signed parental consent forms.\u201d Yet in its response to Senator Warner, Facebook admitted that \u201cPotential participants were required to confirm that they were over 18 or provide other evidence of parental consent, though the vendors did not require a signed parental consent form for teen users.\u201d In some cases, underage users merely had to check a box to claim they had parental consent, and there was no verification of users\u2019 ages or that their parents actually approved.<\/p>\n

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Facebook pays teens to install VPN that spies on them<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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So to quickly recap:<\/p>\n