Latest Facebook scandal!
 

Is there no end to their perfidy? They have been bribing smartphone users with gift cards to load an app that reports back on emails, private messages, web browsing history and photos. Although they claim that underage children need adult confirmation to participate, an investigator was able to register while posing as a 14-year-old boy without any difficulty.

Apple (who have sins of their own to atone for of course) are fizzing with rage because this kind of thing is not allowed in apps that are loaded via their App Store. But they have a facility whereby app developers can bypass this requirement if they are simply testing out new code internally, and FB took advantage of it.

You can read the whole story on TechCrunch.

From Techcrunch, "The strategy shows how far Facebook is willing to go and how much it’s willing to pay to protect its dominance" - sums it up nicely.

I use Facebook, but only in a virtual machine since their T&Cs were updated for GDPR. Reading the article I was not surprised by what FB wants to know, and to an extent I'm glad they appear to have been open with users about what they wanted, though that doesn't mean as much if children could easily take part.

What does surprise me is that any users would sell that kind of access for so little, or indeed to a company with such poor security at any price.

I'm just hoping that someday soon the masses will get tired of the FB shenanigans, and there will be massive blowback in the form of millions of people dumping their accounts. I know, I'm a dreamer.

Please, if you have it, do it now.

What I really can't understand at all is, if kids are getting bullied on these sites, why on earth do they keep going back for more?
Maybe it's just my age but it makes absolutely no sense to me.

^ Because those kids *need* to exist through their virtual life on social networks. That very same life that can be send back to them for abuse.

I already did years ago. I haven't looked back either...

I suppose you are all aware of recent research which shows that using Facebook is a known risk factor for depression? The more hours someone spends on FB, the more depressed they are likely to be.

It's probably why a lot of people use Facebook, because a real person can see your face...

I'm happy when I read news like this. I feel a little guilty for feeling happy but "I told you so!" doesn't begin to scratch the surface of how often I have warned people about this.
OK, I am a bit of a misanthrope but it's been decades since I felt any sympathy for anyone with problems in "social media" -- they were always quick to judge those of us who though there may be issues with these sites.

I gave up after about 6 months, (it/they overwhelm you), never been back, that was years ago, never joined any social media site since, only join & participate in proper specific forums.

it's because to many being part of the gang, even as a punchbag, is way more important than the abuse they're getting.
it has nothing to do with facebook, i see the exact same behaviour in preschoolers that do not have FB accounts (can't even read for that matter). and it's nothing new.

i would go further than that and state that those using these "social media" sites deliberately leave out those who do not. This being why I find this hilarious.
"oh, you're not on Farcebook? How quaint...".
People use these parasitic advertising sites to set up all gatherings and to have all their electronic conversations.

That is so true. Most people get offered "the bargain" when they are just kids, starting school: sell your soul and we'll accept you. And they do because we want so much to be accepted.

I'm sure I would have done the same if the offer had been made to me, but there was something about me that put the other children off. At the time, it made me feel very lonely and unhappy, but now I'm really grateful to the Good Lord because it meant that I was able to remain true to myself.

No surprise here. "Smart Phones" and any "smart device" is/was designed for the specific purpose of spying on you the user. Most of the paid programs/apps spy on you, and the free apps definitely spy on you. The cameras, microphones are there to watch and listen....everything else was just a scam to hook us into using them. Ooh, it has maps, gps, built in camera.... more hooks, ooh, it allows me to be "friends" with people...more hooks..... Throw the damn things away and go back to standard phones, and even then, remove the battery unless you need to make a phone call or check voicemail.

PS: the reason why texting was promoted is simply because its easier to catalog, archive and interpret print then it is the human voice. So quit texting as well.

PSS: This recent facebook discovery is just the beginning, its like roaches, if you see one, theres more, hiding, breeding, lurking.....