Facebook does it again
Kids deserve extra protection online
When will Facebook learn its lesson? It seems the answer may be never. The social networking giant, the source of much controversy over the past few years, is the target of ire yet again after a TechCrunch report revealed the company used a research app to capture the data of users ages 13 to 25 in exchange for payments of up to $20 per month.
Concerns about Facebook’s love for cultivating users’ data without their explicit consent have been voiced for quite some time, but the revelation that it has been targeting teenagers has struck some as a bridge too far.
Facebook has claimed that its program was aboveboard and that it operated with users’ consent. But it is absurd to think that Facebook’s consent protocols adequately inform teenagers what exactly they are consenting to when they sign up for the service looking for some extra pocket money.
Ads from third-party groups on apps like Snapchat and Instagram advertised the opportunity for kids to participate in “social media research” for money. Kids would then be invited to download a program onto their phone that gave Facebook intimate access to their phone. It is true that the company did technically include a parental consent form as a part of the process, but it wouldn’t be hard for a teenager to click through the request. And there are likely very few parents who would be comfortable with their 13year-old turning over sensitive information, including their GPS location, messages and browser history, to anyone for a measly $20.
And so the debate surrounding data collection in the U.S. continues, as legislators contemplate implementing a regulatory law akin to Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR. But whatever law is designed to protect users’ rights, extra attention must be given to protecting the rights of children online. Kids are the most vulnerable group online and companies like Facebook have preyed on their lack of knowledge to harvest data.
Parents must do their part to inform their children about the perils of careless internet usage. It is all too easy for bad actors, from corporations to creeps, to access intimate information nowadays. But our politicians must work to rein in this ability as well. Average people must be able to understand what tech companies are asking of users so that they can make informed choices for themselves and their families.
In the meantime, keeping young people off Facebook seems like it may be a good place to start.