Facebook sidesteps Apple ban by paying teens to harvest data from their phones

Facebook pays teens to install VPN that spies on them

By 2018, Facebook was promoting the Onavo app in a Protect bookmark of the main Facebook app in hopes of scoring more users to snoop on. We investigated, and learned Facebook was working with three app beta testing services to distribute the Facebook Research app: BetaBound, uTest and Applause. That site also doesn't initially mention Facebook, but the instruction manual for installing Facebook Research reveals the company's involvement. The spokesperson confirmed the Facebook Research program does recruit teens but also other age groups from around the world. Despite early reports, there was nothing 'secret' about this; it was literally called the Facebook Research App.

Facebook pays teens to install an app that could collect all kinds of data

by the same token on Facebook has been paying people to install an app that allows the tech giant to collect data on how they use their smartphones. Since 2016, the social networking giant has been paying teenagers and adults up to $20 a month plus referral fees to install the so-called "Facebook Research" app on their Apple or Android phones, according to tech news site TechCrunch. A security expert told the publication that the app allows Facebook to collect data including private social media messages, photos and videos sent via instant messaging apps, emails, web searches and web browsing activities. It can also track ongoing location information from other location tracking apps installed in the user's phone, according to the report. A Facebook spokesperson acknowledged the company is running the program to gather data on usage habits and has paid users for their participation.

Facebook sidesteps Apple ban by paying teens to harvest data from their phones

Facebook has been paying teens and adults to install a "social media research" app that monitors pretty much everything they do on their phones, an investigation by TechCrunch reported on Tuesday evening. Facebook has essentially done an end-run around Apple's App Store, which banned a Facebook VPN app called Onavo Protect last year that also gathered similar data. The app helped Facebook collect crucial data on people's use of WhatsApp that helped justify its 2014 acquisition of that company for $19 billion. Once downloaded through Applause or other beta-testing apps, the Facebook Research app asks the user to download and install a so-called Enterprise Developer Certificate that gives Facebook an unusual level of access to their phone. The developer certificate is intended, Apple says, only for distributing internal corporate apps; distributing such a certificate to non-Facebook employees appears to violate the spirit of Apple's developer rules.

Facebook pays teens to install VPN that spies on them

By 2018, Facebook was promoting the Onavo app in a Protect bookmark of the main Facebook app in hopes of scoring more users to snoop on. We investigated, and learned Facebook was working with three app beta testing services to distribute the Facebook Research app: BetaBound, uTest and Applause. That site also doesn't initially mention Facebook, but the instruction manual for installing Facebook Research reveals the company's involvement. The spokesperson confirmed the Facebook Research program does recruit teens but also other age groups from around the world. Despite early reports, there was nothing 'secret' about this; it was literally called the Facebook Research App.

Facebook sidesteps Apple ban by paying teens to harvest data from their phones

as mentioned in Facebook has been paying people to install an app that allows the tech giant to collect data on how they use their smartphones. Since 2016, the social networking giant has been paying teenagers and adults up to $20 a month plus referral fees to install the so-called "Facebook Research" app on their Apple or Android phones, according to tech news site TechCrunch. A security expert told the publication that the app allows Facebook to collect data including private social media messages, photos and videos sent via instant messaging apps, emails, web searches and web browsing activities. It can also track ongoing location information from other location tracking apps installed in the user's phone, according to the report. A Facebook spokesperson acknowledged the company is running the program to gather data on usage habits and has paid users for their participation.

Facebook pays teens to install an app that could collect all kinds of data

Facebook has been paying teens and adults to install a "social media research" app that monitors pretty much everything they do on their phones, an investigation by TechCrunch reported on Tuesday evening. Facebook has essentially done an end-run around Apple's App Store, which banned a Facebook VPN app called Onavo Protect last year that also gathered similar data. The app helped Facebook collect crucial data on people's use of WhatsApp that helped justify its 2014 acquisition of that company for $19 billion. Once downloaded through Applause or other beta-testing apps, the Facebook Research app asks the user to download and install a so-called Enterprise Developer Certificate that gives Facebook an unusual level of access to their phone. The developer certificate is intended, Apple says, only for distributing internal corporate apps; distributing such a certificate to non-Facebook employees appears to violate the spirit of Apple's developer rules.