Report: Facebook Knows When You're Anxious and Is Using That Info to Target Ads

Leaked info published by The Australian claims the site uses young users' vulnerabilities.

21 March, 2018
Report: Facebook Knows When You're Anxious and Is Using That Info to Target Ads

The Australian obtained and published information from a 23-page document from two top Facebook Australia executives to their employees about collecting data from young people to determine at what "moments [they] need a confidence boost." Facebook is accused of using this information to serve targeted ads to those feeling vulnerable.

In a statement Sunday, Facebook did not deny the existence of the research; instead, they acknowledged it and said, "The premise of [The Australian] article is misleading. Facebook does not offer tools to target people based on their emotional state":

The analysis done by an Australian researcher was intended to help marketers understand how people express themselves on Facebook. It was never used to target ads and was based on data that was anonymous and aggregated. Facebook has an established process to review the research we perform. This research did not follow that process, and we are reviewing the details to correct the oversight.

Per Business Insider Australia, the memo — which was marked "confidential" — analyzed 6.4 million high school and college students and young working people's engagements on the site.

Any likes, comments, and shares indicating they were feeling "stressed," "defeated," "overwhelmed," "anxious," "nervous," "stupid," "silly," "useless," and/or a "failure," could tip off the platform. Again, while Facebook denied the data was used to target ads, BI reports the memo was shared with an unidentified advertiser under a nondisclosure agreement.

Mashable notes that collecting and monitoring children 14 years or younger's information may be a violation of the country's Code for Advertising & Marketing Communications to Children. The site also notes Facebook faced backlash last year after a ProPublica study found it was excluding people of certain races from seeing some advertisements.

It's unclear if the data was collected solely from Australians and New Zealanders, or if Facebook had obtained information from young people using the platform in other countries.

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Credit: Cosmopolitan
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