Texarkana Gazette

Facebook’s sins include preying on teenagers

- San Jose Mercury News

Facebook celebrated its 15th anniversar­y recently in all-too-familiar fashion: another privacy scandal.

But this one crosses the line.

Since 2016, Facebook has been paying minors |as young as 13 to download an app that tracks nearly everything they do on their phones. Taking a cue from tobacco companies, the Menlo Park-based social media company advertised the app on Snapchat and Instagram, where today’s teens routinely hang out.

The outrageous practice is as creepy as it is greedy. The notion that young teenagers can give informed consent is ludicrous, as any responsibl­e parent or business leader knows.

As a parent with two children, CEO Mark Zuckerberg should know better than to profit by preying on children. The revelation destroys whatever remaining credibilit­y he had on privacy issues.

The fact that Facebook is willing to pay teens $20 a month for access to their private data—where they go, what web sites they visit and what they purchase—is another indicator of how much the company is profiting from consumers’ data.

A day of reckoning awaits Zuckerberg and other tech companies. The more users distrust Facebook, the more likely they are to reconsider their online habits. And the more likely Congress will crack down on companies who flaunt calls for self-regulation on basic privacy-rights issues.

Indeed, congressio­nal action is overdue. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Santa Clara, has proposed an Internet bill of rights that’s a good starting point for legislativ­e action.

At least California is taking action. The Legislatur­e in 2018 passed what is regarded as the nation’s toughest online privacy law.

It’s unclear whether the law’s “opt-in” requiremen­t for children younger than 16 would prevent Facebook’s disgusting ploy. If it doesn’t, the Legislatur­e has work to do.

The California law doesn’t take effect until 2020. In the meantime, consumers are having to rely on companies such as Apple to police Facebook. Apple blocked an internal Facebook app on iPhones and iPads for violating Apple’s policies.

Right now, Zuckerberg is laughing all the way to the bank. Despite the public outrage, Facebook’s earnings per share jumped 65 percent from a year ago. The social media company’s net profit for the last quarter totaled $6.88 billion, a record profit for the company.

Zuckerberg’s actions prove that his public apologies are meaningles­s.

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