Facebook Caught Selling Teenagers Datas

Administrator 12:41 AM Business, Internet,

Facebook was caught by a lobby group name Reset Australia which made a fake account on Facebook name Ozzie News Network, to test how Facebook treated teenagers’datas, on selling teenagers datas to advertisers which are in to smoking or vaping, alcohol, gambling, extreme weight loss, and dating.

“Facebook approved adverts targeting teenage children interested in gambling, smoking and extreme weight loss, a report says.” (BBC)

“Research by the lobby group Reset Australia created a Facebook page under the name Ozzie News Network to explore the advertising options. And it was able to create targeted ads, based on profiling by the technology giant, for as little as A$3 (£2.16).”(BBC)

“In yet another controversy for the social networking giant Facebook, a group has shed light on how children are targeted by businesses for age-inappropriate advertisements on the platform. Children as young as 13 years who have shown interest in smoking, gambling and extreme weight loss can be easily targeted through advertisements, the lobby group Reset Australia found, according to a report in The Guardian. To prove its point, the organisation set up a Facebook page and an advertising account under the name “Ozzie news network” to ascertain what options the company provides through its platform for management of advertisements officially called “Ads Manager”. Even though Facebook does not allow advertising alcohol to people aged below 18, it has no mechanisms in place to stop advertisers from targeting children who have shown interest in alcohol.”(Wionews)

According to Reset Australia, Facebook was treating teenagers’ datas like of those of adult account and make no difference.

“The findings were revealed in a report, released today, by lobby group Reset Australia — the local arm of a global initiative working to "counter digital threats to democracy". The group last year set up a fake account, Ozzie News Network, to test whether Facebook treated the data of teenagers differently to adults. As well as gleaning information about users from activity on Facebook, online trackers — known as “cookies” — can follow users as they browse elsewhere on the internet…… "What we found was there was no difference in the way they were treating teenager's data," Reset Australia executive director Chris Cooper said.”(ABC)

However, Facebook says they have age restriction on their website in regards to advertising on their platform.

“… "we have significant measures in place to review all ads before and after they run, including automated systems and human reviewers." "Anyone advertising on our platforms must comply with our policies along with all local laws and codes, such as those restricting the advertising of alcohol to minors in Australia," it said. "To support this, we also have age restriction tools that all businesses can implement on their accounts themselves to control who sees their content.”(ABC)

““Keeping young people safe across Facebook and Instagram is vital,” a spokesman said. “We have significant measures in place... including automated systems and human reviewers. “Anyone advertising on our platforms must comply with our policies along with all local laws and codes, such as those restricting the advertising of alcohol to minors in Australia. “To support this, we also have age-restriction tools that all businesses can implement on their accounts themselves to control who sees their content.””(BBC)