Facebook on hot seat over leaked report

Social media giant claims it can detect how you are feeling

Facebook knows when teenagers are feeling “insecure,” “worthless,” “stressed” or defeated” — and it quietly shared that information with an advertiser.

The social media company says it made a mistake handing over its research to an advertiser, and it says advertisers cannot target its nearly 2 billion users based on their emotional state. But the incident sheds new light on how companies such as Facebook regularly mine our daily lives, and it raises privacy issues for young people whose emotions are be- ing monitored and studied.

According to documents leaked to The Australian newspaper, two Facebook executives prepared a report for one of the country’s top banks describing how Facebook gleans psychological insights into the mood shifts of millions of young people in Australia and New Zealand by monitoring their status updates and photos.

The 23-page report showed Facebook’s ability to detect when users as young as 14 are feeling

“We have a process in place to review the type of research we perform and in this case that process was not followed. Facebook statement to USA TODAY