US lawmakers grilled Facebook over the potential harm its services are causing and its impact on the mental health of children. However, Facebook has defended the impact of its products, saying Instagram has "affirmatively helped" young people. Its global head of safety, Antigone Davis, testified to the US Senate, about child protection.

US lawmakers grill Facebook over Instagram's mental health impact

A recent study has revealed how much people in various countries value their private information and at what price will they be ready to part with it.

It is the first study that attempts to quantify the value of online privacy and data. It assessed how much privacy is worth in six countries by looking at the habits of people in the United States, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, Columbia and Argentina.

The study has been conducted by US-based think tank the Technology Policy Institute (TPI).

Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/facebook-says-investigating-data-exposure-of-267-million-users-269245">Profiles of 267 million users exposed, Facebook says investigating personal data leak</a>

The study found Germans want to be paid more for letting technology platforms share their personal data with third-parties followed by US consumers.

German <a href="https://www.wionews.com/east-asia/protect-users-personal-data-japan-government-to-facebook-172769">Facebook users</a> would want the social media platform to pay them about $8 per month for sharing their contact information, while US users would only seek $3.50.

The study addresses the growing concern about how companies from technology platforms to retailers have been collecting and monetizing personal data.&nbsp;

"Differences in how much people value the privacy of different data types across countries suggests that people in some places may prefer weaker rules while people in other places might prefer stronger rules," Scott Wallsten, president and senior fellow at TPI said.

"Quantifying the value of privacy is necessary for conducting any analysis of proposed privacy policies," he said.

Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-prosecutors-probing-facebooks-data-deals-report-203195">US prosecutors probing Facebook's data deals: Report</a>

People across the board place the highest value on financial information such as bank balance and biometric information such as fingerprint data in particular and consider location data the least valuable, the study found.

A technology platform, on average, across all people the study assessed, would have to pay consumers a monthly $8.44 to share their bank balance information, $7.56 to share fingerprint information, $6.05 to read an individual's texts, and $5.80 to share information on cash withdrawals.

By contrast, people wanted to be paid only $1.82 per month to share location data and nothing to be sent advertisements via text messages.

<img alt="A graphical depiction of the data compiled in the study" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="e72e696a-f1f0-4814-b3f6-327e38f2cc40" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/FACEBBOK.jpg" />

(In photo: A graphical depiction of the data compiled in the study)

The study found Latin American consumers have a preference for seeing advertisements on their smartphone, in contrast to US residents and Germans.

US regulators have imposed hefty fines on <a href="https://www.wionews.com/east-asia/protect-users-personal-data-japan-government-to-facebook-172769">Facebook Inc</a> and <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/alphabet-googles-parent-company-now-a-1-trillion-enterprise-fourth-us-company-to-achieve-this-feat-274982">Alphabet</a>-owned <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/alphabet-googles-parent-company-now-a-1-trillion-enterprise-fourth-us-company-to-achieve-this-feat-274982">Google</a>'s <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/alphabet-googles-parent-company-now-a-1-trillion-enterprise-fourth-us-company-to-achieve-this-feat-274982">YouTube </a>unit for privacy violations.

US lawmakers are working on federal privacy legislation while states like California have put in place a new privacy law. 
&nbsp;

A recent study has revealed how much people in various countries value their private information and at what price will they be ready to part with it. It is the first study that attempts to quantify the value of online privacy and data.

A recent study has revealed how much people in various countries value their private information and at what price will they be ready to part with it. It is the first study that attempts to quantify the value of online privacy and data. It assessed how much privacy is worth in six countries by looking at the habits of people in the United States, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, Columbia and Argentina. The study has been conducted by US-based think tank the Technology Policy Institute (TPI). Also read: Profiles of 267 million users exposed, Facebook says investigating personal data leak The study found Germans want to be paid more for letting technology platforms share their personal data with third-parties followed by US consumers. German Facebook users would want the social media platform to pay them about $8 per month for sharing their contact information, while US users would only seek $3.50. The study addresses the growing concern about how companies from technology platforms to retailers have been collecting and monetizing personal data. "Differences in how much people value the privacy of different data types across countries suggests that people in some places may prefer weaker rules while people in other places might prefer stronger rules," Scott Wallsten, president and senior fellow at TPI said. "Quantifying the value of privacy is necessary for conducting any analysis of proposed privacy policies," he said. Also read: US prosecutors probing Facebook's data deals: Report People across the board place the highest value on financial information such as bank balance and biometric information such as fingerprint data in particular and consider location data the least valuable, the study found. A technology platform, on average, across all people the study assessed, would have to pay consumers a monthly $8.44 to share their bank balance information, $7.56 to share fingerprint information, $6.05 to read an individual's texts, and $5.80 to share information on cash withdrawals. By contrast, people wanted to be paid only $1.82 per month to share location data and nothing to be sent advertisements via text messages. (In photo: A graphical depiction of the data compiled in the study) The study found Latin American consumers have a preference for seeing advertisements on their smartphone, in contrast to US residents and Germans. US regulators have imposed hefty fines on Facebook Inc and Alphabet-owned Google's YouTube unit for privacy violations. US lawmakers are working on federal privacy legislation while states like California have put in place a new privacy law.

How much do Facebook users want to sell their private information for?

British regulators on Friday began searching the London offices of Cambridge Analytica (CA),&nbsp;the scandal-hit communications firm at the heart of the Facebook data scandal, shortly after a judge approved a search warrant.

Around 18 enforcement agents from the office of Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham entered the company&#39;s London headquarters at around 8:00pm (2000 GMT) to execute the warrant.

The High Court granted the raid request less than an hour earlier, as Denham investigates claims that Cambridge Analytica may have illegally harvested Facebook data for political ends.

A full explanation of the legal ruling by Judge Anthony James Leonard will be issued on Tuesday, according to the court.

&quot;We&#39;re pleased with the decision of the judge,&quot; Denham&#39;s office said on Twitter.&nbsp;

&quot;This is just one part of a larger investigation into the use of personal data and analytics for political purposes,&quot; it added in a statement.&nbsp;

&quot;As you will expect, we will now need to collect, assess and consider the evidence before coming to any conclusions.&quot;

The data watchdog&#39;s probe comes amid whistleblower accusations that CA, hired by Donald Trump during his primary campaign, illegally mined tens of millions of users&#39; Facebook data and then used it to target potential voters.

Fresh allegations also emerged Friday night about the firm&#39;s involvement in the 2016 Brexit referendum campaign.

Brittany Kaiser, CA&#39;s business development director until two weeks ago, revealed it conducted data research for Leave.EU, one of the leading campaign groups, via the UK Independence Party (UKIP), according to The Guardian.

&#39;I WAS LYING&#39; 
Kaiser, 30, told the newspaper she felt the company&#39;s repeated public denials it ever worked on the poll misled British lawmakers and the public.

&quot;In my opinion, I was lying,&quot; she said. &quot;In my opinion I felt like we should say, &#39;this is exactly what we did.&#39;&quot;

CA&#39;s suspended chief executive Alexander Nix told MPs last month: &quot;We did not work for Leave.EU. We have not undertaken any paid or unpaid work for them, OK?&quot;

Nix was suspended this week following the Facebook revelations and a further media sting in which he boasts about entrapping politicians and secretly operating in elections around the world through shadowy front companies.

He has already been called to reappear before British lawmakers to explain &quot;inconsistencies&quot; in past testimony about the firm&#39;s use of the data. 
&nbsp;

Meanwhile Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been forced to issue a statement outlining his firm&#39;s role in the scandal and apologised Wednesday to its billions of users for the breach.

The company has seen its stock market value plunge by around $75 million amid the crisis, as shares closed the week down 13 percent -- their worst seven days since July 2012.

Cambridge Analytica denies any wrongdoing, and said Friday it was undertaking an independent third-party audit to verify that it no longer holds any of the mined data.

&quot;As anyone who is familiar with our staff and work can testify, we in no way resemble the politically-motivated and unethical company that some have sought to portray,&quot; acting CEO Alexander Tayler said in a statement.&nbsp;

He apologised for the firm&#39;s involvement, but said it had licensed the data from a research company, led by an academic, that &quot;had not received consent from most respondents&quot;.

&quot;The company (CA) believed that the data had been obtained in line with Facebook&#39;s terms of service and data protection laws,&quot; Tayler said.

NEW REVIEW 

Aleksandr Kogan, a University of Cambridge psychologist, created a personality prediction app that harvested the data of 270,000 people who downloaded it -- as well as scooping up the information of their friends.

That was possible under Facebook&#39;s rules at the time, and Kogan this week claimed he was being unfairly blamed.

&quot;I&#39;m being basically used as a scapegoat by both Facebook and Cambridge Analytica,&quot; he said in interviews Wednesday.

&quot;We were assured by Cambridge Analytica that everything was perfectly legal and within the terms of service&quot; of Facebook, he added.

However, Cambridge University announced Friday it was &quot;undertaking a wide-ranging review&quot; of the episode and had written to Facebook &quot;to request all relevant evidence in their possession&quot;.

&quot;Should anything emerge from this review, or from our request to Facebook, the University will take any action necessary in accordance with our policies and procedures,&quot; it said in a statement.

The High Court granted the raid request less than an hour earlier, as Denham investigates claims that Cambridge Analytica may have illegally harvested Facebook data for political ends.

British regulators on Friday began searching the London offices of Cambridge Analytica (CA), the scandal-hit communications firm at the heart of the Facebook data scandal, shortly after a judge approved a search warrant. Around 18 enforcement agents from the office of Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham entered the company's London headquarters at around 8:00pm (2000 GMT) to execute the warrant. The High Court granted the raid request less than an hour earlier, as Denham investigates claims that Cambridge Analytica may have illegally harvested Facebook data for political ends. A full explanation of the legal ruling by Judge Anthony James Leonard will be issued on Tuesday, according to the court. "We're pleased with the decision of the judge," Denham's office said on Twitter. "This is just one part of a larger investigation into the use of personal data and analytics for political purposes," it added in a statement. "As you will expect, we will now need to collect, assess and consider the evidence before coming to any conclusions." The data watchdog's probe comes amid whistleblower accusations that CA, hired by Donald Trump during his primary campaign, illegally mined tens of millions of users' Facebook data and then used it to target potential voters. Fresh allegations also emerged Friday night about the firm's involvement in the 2016 Brexit referendum campaign. Brittany Kaiser, CA's business development director until two weeks ago, revealed it conducted data research for Leave.EU, one of the leading campaign groups, via the UK Independence Party (UKIP), according to The Guardian. 'I WAS LYING' Kaiser, 30, told the newspaper she felt the company's repeated public denials it ever worked on the poll misled British lawmakers and the public. "In my opinion, I was lying," she said. "In my opinion I felt like we should say, 'this is exactly what we did.'" CA's suspended chief executive Alexander Nix told MPs last month: "We did not work for Leave.EU. We have not undertaken any paid or unpaid work for them, OK?" Nix was suspended this week following the Facebook revelations and a further media sting in which he boasts about entrapping politicians and secretly operating in elections around the world through shadowy front companies. He has already been called to reappear before British lawmakers to explain "inconsistencies" in past testimony about the firm's use of the data. Meanwhile Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been forced to issue a statement outlining his firm's role in the scandal and apologised Wednesday to its billions of users for the breach. The company has seen its stock market value plunge by around $75 million amid the crisis, as shares closed the week down 13 percent -- their worst seven days since July 2012. Cambridge Analytica denies any wrongdoing, and said Friday it was undertaking an independent third-party audit to verify that it no longer holds any of the mined data. "As anyone who is familiar with our staff and work can testify, we in no way resemble the politically-motivated and unethical company that some have sought to portray," acting CEO Alexander Tayler said in a statement. He apologised for the firm's involvement, but said it had licensed the data from a research company, led by an academic, that "had not received consent from most respondents". "The company (CA) believed that the data had been obtained in line with Facebook's terms of service and data protection laws," Tayler said. NEW REVIEW Aleksandr Kogan, a University of Cambridge psychologist, created a personality prediction app that harvested the data of 270,000 people who downloaded it -- as well as scooping up the information of their friends. That was possible under Facebook's rules at the time, and Kogan this week claimed he was being unfairly blamed. "I'm being basically used as a scapegoat by both Facebook and Cambridge Analytica," he said in interviews Wednesday. "We were assured by Cambridge Analytica that everything was perfectly legal and within the terms of service" of Facebook, he added. However, Cambridge University announced Friday it was "undertaking a wide-ranging review" of the episode and had written to Facebook "to request all relevant evidence in their possession". "Should anything emerge from this review, or from our request to Facebook, the University will take any action necessary in accordance with our policies and procedures," it said in a statement.

UK regulators search Cambridge Analytica offices

Facebook Inc barred software developers on Monday from using the massive social network&#39;s data to create surveillance tools, closing off a process that had been exploited by US&nbsp;police departments to track protesters

Facebook, its Instagram unit and rival Twitter Inc came under fire last year from privacy advocates after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in a report that police were using location data and other user information to spy on protesters in places such as Ferguson, Missouri.

In response to the ACLU report, the companies shut off the data access of Geofeedia, a Chicago-based data vendor that said it works with organisations to &quot;leverage social media&quot;, but Facebook policy had not explicitly barred such use of data in the future.

&quot;Our goal is to make our policy explicit,&quot; Rob Sherman, Facebook&#39;s deputy chief privacy officer, said in a post on the social network on Monday. He was not immediately available for an interview.

The change would help build &quot;a community where people can feel safe making their voices heard,&quot; Sherman said.

Racially charged protests broke out in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson in the aftermath of the August 2014 shooting of black teenager Michael Brown by a white police officer.

In a 2015 email message, a Geofeedia employee touted its &quot;great success&quot; covering the protests, according to the ACLU report based on government records.

Representatives of Geofeedia could not immediately be reached for comment on Monday. The company has worked with more than 500 law enforcement agencies, the ACLU said.

Geofeedia Chief Executive Officer Phil Harris said in October that the company was committed to privacy and would work to build on civil rights protections.

Major social media platforms including Twitter and Alphabet Inc&#39;s YouTube have taken action or implemented policies similar to Facebook&#39;s, said Nicole Ozer, technology and civil liberties policy director at the ACLU of Northern California.

Ozer praised the companies&#39; action but said they should have stopped such use of data earlier. &quot;It shouldn&#39;t take a public records request from the ACLU for these companies to know what their developers are doing,&quot; she said.

It was also unclear how the companies would enforce their policies, said Malkia Cyril, executive director of the Center for Media Justice, a nonprofit that opposes government use of social media for surveillance.

Inside corporations, &quot;is the will there, without constant activist pressure, to enforce these rules?&quot; Cyril said.

(Reuters)

Facebook came under fire last year from privacy advocates for using location data and other user information to spy on protesters

Facebook Inc barred software developers on Monday from using the massive social network's data to create surveillance tools, closing off a process that had been exploited by US police departments to track protesters Facebook, its Instagram unit and rival Twitter Inc came under fire last year from privacy advocates after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in a report that police were using location data and other user information to spy on protesters in places such as Ferguson, Missouri. In response to the ACLU report, the companies shut off the data access of Geofeedia, a Chicago-based data vendor that said it works with organisations to "leverage social media", but Facebook policy had not explicitly barred such use of data in the future. "Our goal is to make our policy explicit," Rob Sherman, Facebook's deputy chief privacy officer, said in a post on the social network on Monday. He was not immediately available for an interview. The change would help build "a community where people can feel safe making their voices heard," Sherman said. Racially charged protests broke out in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson in the aftermath of the August 2014 shooting of black teenager Michael Brown by a white police officer. In a 2015 email message, a Geofeedia employee touted its "great success" covering the protests, according to the ACLU report based on government records. Representatives of Geofeedia could not immediately be reached for comment on Monday. The company has worked with more than 500 law enforcement agencies, the ACLU said. Geofeedia Chief Executive Officer Phil Harris said in October that the company was committed to privacy and would work to build on civil rights protections. Major social media platforms including Twitter and Alphabet Inc's YouTube have taken action or implemented policies similar to Facebook's, said Nicole Ozer, technology and civil liberties policy director at the ACLU of Northern California. Ozer praised the companies' action but said they should have stopped such use of data earlier. "It shouldn't take a public records request from the ACLU for these companies to know what their developers are doing," she said. It was also unclear how the companies would enforce their policies, said Malkia Cyril, executive director of the Center for Media Justice, a nonprofit that opposes government use of social media for surveillance. Inside corporations, "is the will there, without constant activist pressure, to enforce these rules?" Cyril said. (Reuters)

Facebook bars developers from using data for surveillance

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US lawmakers grill Facebook over Instagram's mental health impact

How much do Facebook users want to sell their private information for?

UK regulators search Cambridge Analytica offices

Facebook bars developers from using data for surveillance