Read the full Kogan email: Researcher says Facebook is scapegoating him | The Outline: Later, in 2014, once I formed GSR, but before starting the project, I moved the app into GSR, and (a) changed the name of the app to GSRApp, (b) changed the logo, (c) changed the description, and (d) changed the terms and conditions. In fact, the only aspect that was the same about the app was its app ID number. In the GSRApp, we made clear the app was for commercial use—we never mentioned academic research nor the University of Cambridge. The project was in fact done entirely through GSR—the university played no role. In the Terms of Service of the GSRApp, we clearly stated that the users were granting us the right to use the data in broad scope, including selling and licensing the data. These changes were all made on the Facebook app platform and thus they had full ability to review the nature of the app and raise issues. Facebook at no point raised any concerns at all about any of these changes. Thus, we operated with the understanding that Facebook was fine with the updated nature of the app. We also did get assurances from SCL that their lawyers thought what we were doing was perfectly legal and within the frame of the Facebook ToS. Sadly, I did not get my own legal council at the time—a big mistake in retrospect!—since we weren’t getting paid for the work (our compensation was the data), and we all know that Cambridge academics aren’t exactly exorbitantly paid.
The app collected data from about 250,000 users. We recruited them through Qualtrics, had them complete a number of surveys, and authorize the GSR app. Through the app, we collected public demographic details about each user (name, location, age, gender), and their page likes (e.g., the lady gaga page). We collected the same data about their friends whose security settings allowed for their friends to share their data through apps. Each user who authorized the app was presented with both a list of the exact data we would be collecting, and also a Terms of Service detailing the commercial nature of the project and the rights they gave us as far as the data. Facebook themselves have been on the record saying that the collection was through legitimate means—though they have chosen to not talk about how I changed the app’s ToS, name, and description for the project, and instead have only talked about the app’s initial version and also its third version (which came after the SCL project) and was the personality test.
The app collected data from about 250,000 users. We recruited them through Qualtrics, had them complete a number of surveys, and authorize the GSR app. Through the app, we collected public demographic details about each user (name, location, age, gender), and their page likes (e.g., the lady gaga page). We collected the same data about their friends whose security settings allowed for their friends to share their data through apps. Each user who authorized the app was presented with both a list of the exact data we would be collecting, and also a Terms of Service detailing the commercial nature of the project and the rights they gave us as far as the data. Facebook themselves have been on the record saying that the collection was through legitimate means—though they have chosen to not talk about how I changed the app’s ToS, name, and description for the project, and instead have only talked about the app’s initial version and also its third version (which came after the SCL project) and was the personality test.