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Facebook Paying Teens $20/Month to Install Data Harvesting VPN App on iPhones

[AUT] Thomas said:
Never used Facebook because it was evil from the beginning. It literally was created for spying on people. It's just sad it takes people so long to realize and see the big picture. I hope you don't have whatsapp or insta...
It's time to dump those as well. All your friends are using it? Then be the first one to use something else and convince them. Don't be the sheep that follows the herd.
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No Insta or whats app for me either.
 
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brendu said:
I guess I just don’t understand how anyone would be willing to feed Facebook literally all their most intimate data for $20/month. They are one of the shadiest, most untrustworthy companies on earth. I wouldn’t do it for $100/month. Zuckerberg does not deserve my data. Apple and Facebook aren’t the same at all. Apple doesn’t sell my data to anyone. Apple doesn’t use my data to try to influence me. Google is also bad and I avoid using it as much as possible.
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What data do you think you have that's so private? Putin's cell number? All they're getting is a way to Target ads, and they're still not doing well. They seem to feel I'm a young black woman based on the ads I get.

hwhitney said:
I used that app for a few months - I reasoned that facebook and others already have so much access to my info, I might as well be compensated for it. If I recall correctly, the terms said that the app allowed them to monitor "browser and social media activity."

The app sucked - the VPN randomly changed locations, making location services useless. My data speed was awful, and it sucked the battery as well as chewed through data when not on wi-fi. So I deleted it.

I'm also the type of person who allows a survey company to automatically view my Amazon purchase history every month for a few bucks though, so *shrug*
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I actually liked their VPN. Never had a problem with it, other than not being able to use my Alexa app with it.
 
AlliFlowers said:
What data do you think you have that's so private? Putin's cell number? All they're getting is a way to Target ads, and they're still not doing well. They seem to feel I'm a young black woman based on the ads I get.
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They know where you live, they know where you work. They know when you are home and when you aren't. They know every website you visit and for how long. They know what restaurants you eat at. They know who your contacts are, how often you talk to them and what you talk to them about. They can likely tell your sleep habits. If you do banking online, well you just gave them access to all your banking info too. Have you purchased anything online? They likely have your credit card info. Take pictures of your family and friends? They have every single one you have sent to anyone regardless of whether you did it on facebook, text, email, twitter, or any other way along with all the metadata that goes with it.

Does all that matter to you? Maybe not. But if a dishonest employee wanted they could do whatever they wanted with that info. Worse, Facebook almost certainly sells ALL that data to third parties. Someone could essentially steal your identity and bankrupt you. I do not trust Facebook employees with that data for a second let alone whatever shady third parties they sell it to. Can you really say all that risk is worth $20/month? I simply do not get it.
 
brendu said:
They know where you live, they know where you work. They know when you are home and when you aren't. They know every website you visit and for how long. They know what restaurants you eat at. They know who your contacts are, how often you talk to them and what you talk to them about. They can likely tell your sleep habits. If you do banking online, well you just gave them access to all your banking info too. Have you purchased anything online? They likely have your credit card info. Take pictures of your family and friends? They have every single one you have sent to anyone regardless of whether you did it on facebook, text, email, twitter, or any other way along with all the metadata that goes with it.

Does all that matter to you? Maybe not. But if a dishonest employee wanted they could do whatever they wanted with that info. Worse, Facebook almost certainly sells ALL that data to third parties. Someone could essentially steal your identity and bankrupt you. I do not trust Facebook employees with that data for a second let alone whatever shady third parties they sell it to. Can you really say all that risk is worth $20/month? I simply do not get it.
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That's all assuming users do that in the first place.. Although you could get it from meta-data, It's not the same volume/tracking than with an active account.
 
brendu said:
They know where you live, they know where you work. They know when you are home and when you aren't. They know every website you visit and for how long. They know what restaurants you eat at. They know who your contacts are, how often you talk to them and what you talk to them about. They can likely tell your sleep habits. If you do banking online, well you just gave them access to all your banking info too. Have you purchased anything online? They likely have your credit card info. Take pictures of your family and friends? They have every single one you have sent to anyone regardless of whether you did it on facebook, text, email, twitter, or any other way along with all the metadata that goes with it.

Does all that matter to you? Maybe not. But if a dishonest employee wanted they could do whatever they wanted with that info. Worse, Facebook almost certainly sells ALL that data to third parties. Someone could essentially steal your identity and bankrupt you. I do not trust Facebook employees with that data for a second let alone whatever shady third parties they sell it to. Can you really say all that risk is worth $20/month? I simply do not get it.
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They know all that anyway. Same as Amazon. What would a dishonest person do with photos of my family?

Do you make purchases from Amazon? They have all kinds of credit card information. No. I don't worry about it. If I worried about all these things, I'd never turn on a connected device, and never leave my house. You can't live like that.
 
Skeptical.me said:
As long as you only use Apple's Apps. As soon as you start using third party Apps, what happens on an iPhone doesn't stay on an iPhone
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You use your own discretion. It is not Apple fault if you agree to Facebook's terms and conditions because you cannot resist seeing the cat photos of your friend on the news feed. Apple does not throw you these Apps by default on your device. You download them and agree to their terms of use, It is a free world and should be that way.
 
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BvizioN said:
I think you are just getting far too deep in this.
Just enjoy life a little, rather than being paranoid about everything.
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BvizioN said:
You use your own discretion. It is not Apple fault if you agree to Facebook's terms and conditions because you cannot resist seeing the cat photos of your friend on the news feed. Apple does not throw you these Apps by default on your device. You download them and agree to their terms of use, It is a free world and should be that way.
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Agreed, FB & Google are the enemy. I don't use their apps or services.
 
MacBH928 said:
I can't believe people still use FB and Google.

its too late for us the naive 90's internet users who thought the internet was ad supported like free tv channels, but if I ever have a kid these will be the rules:
1)Do not create an account
2)Do not use free apps/service
3)any image/audio/message you send make sure it would be something you would be proud of if it was posted on the front page of a newspaper
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And then you have kids and realize it ain’t that easy ;)

The world really has changed a lot in particular the way the young comunicate

You cannot just cut them off completely

It is important though to make them aware of what really is going on behind the scenes and which is the price they pay for all those shiny “free” apps and services and to protect and guide them as much as we can

Hell they use apps and services I have never even heard before ..
 
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