Facebook to launch new app
By Staff Writer, écoute moi
The company has been paying gift cards to people aged 13 to 35 in exchange for installing an app called Facebook Research on iOS and Android. The app monitors their phone and web activity and sends it back to Facebook for market research purposes.
Facebook previously collected similar data using Onavo Protect, a VPN service that it acquired in 2013. The company has used the data to identify up-and-coming competitors, then acquire or clone them. Facebook removed the app from the App Store last summer after Apple complained that it violated the App Store’s guidelines on data collection. As a result the social network was forced to shut down. After several months, the company is now launching a new app designed to reward users for voluntary feedback.
The new market research app, called Viewpoints, promises to compensate users in exchange for filling out surveys and other tasks. Social media giant Facebook is willing to reward users with cash, granting some users earnings of up to $600 a year.
Facebook to launch new app
The Research app requires that users install a custom root certificate, giving Facebook the ability to see users’ private messages, emails, web searches, and browsing activity. That’s in apparent violation of Apple’s system-level functionality, which is intended to grant employers access to employees’ work devices. The policy prohibits developers from installing the certificates on customers’ phones.
“Key facts about this market research program are being ignored,” the company said. “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. Finally, less than 5 percent of the people who chose to participate in this market research program were teens, all of them with signed parental consent forms.”
According to a company blog post, Facebook plans to use the insights from users aged 18 and older to improve Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Portal, Oculus and the general online community.
Users will be bringing home the bacon after undertaking surveys, completing tasks and participating in research with its new market research app, Facebook Viewpoints.
Facebook to launch new app
Once users create a Facebook Viewpoints account, they will get an invite to join “programs. “In the blog post, Facebook revealed it will explain what information it’s collecting, how it’ll use it and how many points you’ll receive for completing the program, which in turn will translate into payment via PayPal. As mentioned in the app’s terms of service, users can make up to $600 a year from the app alone.
Facebook Viewpoints asks for information including a user’s name, email address, country of residence, date of birth and gender. In addition, the app may also require users to complete tasks, demo products or even help improve the company’s artificial intelligence technology “such as by recording the pronunciation of names to improve voice recognition or labelling images to improve image recognition. “Sometimes it will ask you to share extra information, such as your location, to qualify you for individual programs.
“We won’t sell your information from this app to third parties,” reads the statement on the blog. “We also won’t publicly share your Facebook Viewpoints activity on Facebook or on other accounts you’ve linked without your permission. And you can end your participation at any time.”