Facebook app that paid teens for data to be axed

Facebook is shutting down an iOS app that paid users as young as 13 for their smartphone data, following an outcry over the controversial practice.

A report by TechCrunch revealed that the Facebook Research app would “suck in all of a user’s phone and web activity”, with participants paid up to $20 (£15.30) a month in gift vouchers to take part. The company also offered a referral payment to anyone who introduced a friend to the service.

The app functioned in a similar manner to the social media service’s Onavo Protect, which was banned by Apple last June for violating its policy on data collection, according to ZDNet.

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But Facebook was able to bypass Apple’s App Store with the Research programme by offering it through software testing services including Applause, BetaBound and uTest, TechCrunch reports.

Launched in 2016, the app collected information from a user’s private messages, emails, browsing activity and web searches, says The Verge.

In some instances, participants were asked to send screenshots of their Amazon orders, too.

The research focused on users aged 13-35, who were told that their data would be collected to “improve” Facebook’s services, notes the BBC.

Users also had to agree not to disclose “any information about this project to third parties”.

Responding to the reports, a Facebook spokesperson told TechCrunch that “key facts about this market research programme are being ignored”.

“Despite early reports, there was nothing ‘secret’ about this - it was literally called the Facebook Research 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 continued.

“Finally, less than 5% of the people who chose to participate in this market research programme were teens. All of them with signed parental consent forms.”

Nevertheless, Facebook has announced that it will shut down the app on Apple devices. It has not confirmed whether it will also cease the programme on Google’s Android phones.