Zuckerberg says Messenger Kids data isn’t shared
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg tried to assure lawmakers and the public this week that his company cares deeply about user privacy and is making changes to better protect it. What about the children? The company has faced pressure over Messenger Kids, its new messaging app for kids ages 6 to 12, amid concerns about tech, smartphone and social media addic- tion. Facebook itself, and itsMessenger app, are meant for people 13 and older.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, asked Zuckerberg on Tuesday during the Senate committees hearing about the company’s handling of Messenger Kids data.
“What guarantees can you give us that kids’ data isn’t being shared?” the senator asked.
Zuckerberg’s reply: “It will not be shared with third parties.”
Facebook’s CEO repeated the company
line defending its introduction of a messaging app for very young children: It just wants to provide a way for parents to keep in touch with their children.
“We heard feedback from thousands of parents and they want control over their communication with kids,” Zuckerberg said. “We built this service to do that. It collects aminimum amount of information.”
But Jim Steyer, president of San Franciscobased Common Sense Media, which is part of the alliance of children’s advocacy groups that in January asked Facebook to pull the plug onMessenger Kids, has his doubts.
“We have no reason to believe Facebook won’t share — or otherwise figure out how to exploit — what they collect on kids,” Steyer said this week. “This pipeline they are building of very young users is a gold mine and Facebook’s track record of changing privacy terms, allowing discriminatory ad targeting, designing products whose goal is to hook consumers, and creating platforms that prize inflammatory content over reasoned debate is not reassuring.”
When Durbin asked Zuckerberg if Messenger Kids data would be deleted when the kids grow up, Facebook’s CEO replied yes. The kids would have to “start over” and sign up for a regular account, he said.
Facebook introduced Messenger Kids — which it says is its first app for kids — in December, and expanded the app to Android in February. When the company rolled out the standalone app, it said the information collected by it “isn’t used for ads.”