Facebook accused of paying teens to spy on their phones

Facebook is under more scrutiny after a report that it paid teens for access to data on their phones. According to TechCrunch, the social networking giant paid research app users up to $20 a month for access to private messages, emails, web searches and browsing activity. Facebook objected to parts of the report and said participants agreed to the terms. Apple banned the app from iPhones, saying Facebook violated its agreement with the company.

Class discussion: Is Facebook “spying” on the teens? Did the teens simply sell their privacy rights to Facebook? Huge corporations like, Facebook, Google and Amazon make billions of dollars by using the vast data they collect from users. Is it wrong to use this data to manipulate people to buy products or sway their votes? Are “free” services like searches, social media and email worth giving up privacy? Is it your responsibility to guard your privacy? Do you care if your every move and message is recorded?