Facebook shuts controversial programme to pay Apple users for data

Facebook has been under fire for months over its privacy practices and role in the 2016 US presidential election

Facebook Inc will shut down a program to pay iPhone users for sharing their personal data, following a report disclosing controversial details of the effort including that some participants were teenagers.

The social networking company paid people aged 13 to 35 as much as $20 a month to install the Facebook Research App, track phone and web usage habits, according to a TechCrunch story. The program sidestepped Apple’s App Store and gave Facebook root access to network traffic in what may have been a violation of Apple policy, the story said. The app will be discontinued on Apple’s iOS, though