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.