--- title: "Facebook Got Busted Paying Teenagers $20 a Month for Private Data" description: "TechCrunch reports Facebook is running a program that pays users ages 13 to 35 $20 in e-gift cards for access to all of their information." date: "2019-01-30" modified: "2019-01-30" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/facebook-project-titan-teens-private-data" categories: - "Cybersecurity" - "Data Privacy" - "Future Society" tags: - "facebook" - "privacy" - "the digest" - "vpn" --- # Facebook Got Busted Paying Teenagers $20 a Month for Private Data ![TechCrunch reports Facebook is running a program that pays users ages 13 to 35 $20 in e-gift cards for access to all of their information.]() *\Image: Warren Wong/Tag Hartman-Simkins\* ## Open Facebook We already knew about Facebook's iron grip on our private data. But new revelations raise further questions about the company's judgment and overreach. A [bombshell investigation]() by *TechCrunch* details a Facebook program called Project Atlas, which pays users from the ages of 13 to 35 with $20 gift cards for downloading an app that sends the social giant nearly all information about users' web activity — another chilling sign of big tech's boundless urge to delve deeper into your most private information. ## "Project Atlas" To get the miserly $20 gift cards, Facebook asked iOS and Android users to install a virtual private network that sends outgoing data streams through a third party. That could potentially give Facebook "nearly limitless access to a user's device," security expert Will Strafach, who works for firewall app maker Guardian Mobile Firewall, told *TechCrunch*. "Most users are going to be unable to reasonably consent to this regardless of any agreement they sign, because there is no good way to articulate just how much power is handed to Facebook when you do this," Strafach told *TechCrunch*. Documents obtained by *TechCrunch* reveal Facebook's so-called "Project Atlas" even asked users to screenshot their Amazon order history pages. ## Aftermath Facebook promptly shut down the iOS version of the app after *TechCrunch*'s report. A spokesperson for Apple told *TechCrunch* that the app was a "clear breach of their agreement" with Facebook, and took away Facebook's right to distribute internal iOS apps — a blow that a source told the *Verge* was seen as a "critical problem" inside Facebook. The drama comes after a bruising 2018 that was full of [revelations]() about Facebook's privacy [breaches]() and failures to ensure the privacy for its users. This is arguably just another nail in the coffin. **READ MORE:** [Facebook pays teens to install VPN that spies on them]() \[*TechCrunch*\] ***More on Facebook and its privacy issues: [Here’s Why That Recent Abuse of Facebook Data Matters]()*** ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()