Young Research & Publishing Inc.

Investment Research Since 1978

Disclosure

  • About Us
    • Contributors
    • Archives
    • The Final Richard C. Young’s Intelligence Report
    • You’ve Read The Last Issue of Intelligence Report, Now What?
    • Dick Young’s Research Key: Anecdotal Evidence Gathering
    • Crisis at Vanguard
  • Investment Analysis
    • Bonds
    • Currencies and Gold
    • Dividend Investing
    • ETFs & Funds
    • Investment Strategy
    • Retirement Investing
    • Stocks
    • The Efficient Frontier
  • Investment Counsel
  • Dynamic Maximizers®
  • Retirement Compounders®
  • Free Email Signup
  • Dick Young’s Safe America

Facebook: Ethics for Sale?

November 29, 2018 By Jeremy Jones, CFA

By stoatphoto @ Shutterstock.com

Like many tech companies claiming to be ethical, or not evil, Facebook seems to condition that morality on whether or not it is getting paid enough to change course. During internal discussions reported on by The Wall Street Journal, Facebook executives and employees appear to have considered ways in which to generate greater profits that would have gone against the stated ethical philosophies of the social network company.

It should be noted that Facebook didn’t ultimately follow through on those unethical practices, but its seems that the line holding Facebook back from such betrayals of confidence is mostly financial.

Deepa Seetharaman and Kirsten Grind report:

The Facebook emails referenced in the 18-page court document that was viewed by the Journal date back to the fall of 2012. At the time, Facebook had just emerged from a rocky public offering and was struggling to generate revenue from its mobile product while operating under a data-sharing policy established years earlier under Mr. Zuckerberg.

The policy allowed tens of thousands of outside app developers to access private information about Facebook users by plugging into the company’s developer platform. But developers were gaining access to that invaluable trove of data without giving Facebook anything in return.

As Facebook considered adjusting its strategy, employees discussed ways to get more revenue and data from developers, the Six4Three document shows.

An unidentified Facebook employee mentioned shutting down data access “in one-go to all apps that don’t spend… at least $250k a year to maintain access to the data,” according to one email referenced in the document. The full content of the email wasn’t included.

“We were trying to figure out how to build a sustainable business,” a Facebook spokeswoman said. “We had a lot of internal conversations about how we could do this.”

Some of the deals discussed in the document appear to involve Facebook potentially receiving more ad dollars in return for access to user data. Those deals would have been at odds with Facebook’s stated business philosophies, and would have gone beyond the preferential access to private data given to some companies, which the Journal previously reported.

The backdrop for some of the discussions was Facebook’s pending move to restrict developers from seeing information on users’ friends, such as name, birth date, photos and page likes. The company announced the move in 2014, and it went into effect the next year.

Read more here.

Share this:

  • Email
  • Twitter
  • Facebook

You Might Also Like:

  • Facebook Feeding Frenzy
  • Has Facebook Peaked?
  • Germany Doesn’t Like Facebook’s Data Collection
  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Jeremy Jones, CFA
Jeremy Jones, CFA, CFP® is the Director of Research at Young Research & Publishing Inc., and the Chief Investment Officer at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. was ranked #10 in CNBC's 2019 Financial Advisor Top 100. Jeremy is also a contributing editor of youngresearch.com.
Latest posts by Jeremy Jones, CFA (see all)
  • TIPS Not the Best Inflation Hedge Today - April 19, 2021
  • Turkey Bans Bitcoin - April 16, 2021
  • How Amazon Violates Anti-Trust Rules - April 15, 2021

Search Young Research

Most Popular

  • It’s as Simple as 4%? No, Not Anymore
  • Is Inflation Imminent? Prepare Now
  • Your Port Against a Storm.
  • Vanguard Wellesley (VWINX) vs. Wellington (VWELX): Which Fund is Best?
  • Long Live the Dividend King
  • Inflation? Yes.
  • Fidelity Investments #1: Hires 4,000 Focuses on YOU
  • Banks Prepare for Boom
  • The Highest Yielding Dow Stocks
  • Why Service Is King in 1(800)# Teenage Wasteland

Don’t Miss

Default Risk Among the Many Concerns with Annuities

Risk and Reward: An Efficient Frontier

How to be a Billionaire: Proven Strategies from the Titans of Wealth

Could this Be the Vanguard GNMA Winning Edge?

Cryptocosm and Life After Google

Warning: Avoid Mutual Fund Year End Distributions

Is Gold a Good Long-term Investment?

How to Invest in Gold

Vanguard Wellington (VWELX): The Original Balanced Fund

What is the Best Gold ETF for Investing and Trading?

Procter & Gamble (PG) Stock: The Only True Dividend King

The Dividend King of the North

You’ll Love This if You’re Dreaming of an Active Retirement Life

RSS The Latest at Richardcyoung.com

  • Landmen Shift Focus to Solar and Wind Leases
  • Key West Greetings From the Thirsty Mermaid
  • The Vanguard Wellesley Way
  • Toilet Paper and SPAM: What More You Can Do?
  • Incentivizing People to Stay Home?
  • The Government Cannot Constitutionally Interfere With Gun Ownership
  • French Wine Weather Disaster Worse than 1991, 1997, 2003
  • Key West Breaking News from Dick Young
  • A Pitiful, Helpless Giant?
  • What Happens When Even Logic and Facts Can’t Persuade the Left?

About Us

  • About Young Research
  • Archives
  • Contributors

Our Partners

  • Richard C. Young & Co.
  • Richardcyoung.com

Copyright © 2021 | Terms & Conditions

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.