Facebook will pay you real money to take surveys with new Viewpoints app
FACEBOOK has launched a new app that pays you cash for taking surveys.
As well as questionnaires, Facebook Viewpoints will also shell out for testing its products and helping with research.
Currently users have access to a single survey, which takes 15 minutes to complete and pays $5 (about £3.90), reports .
It asks questions about your "well-being" and is only available to people aged 18+ in the US with a Facebook account for now.
Facebook said it was using the scheme to improve its products. The firm has plans to expand the programme to other counties next year.
"We believe the best way to make products better is to get insights directly from people who use them," Facebook said in a .
"We'll use these insights to improve products like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Portal and Oculus, and to benefit the broader community."
To use the new service, you first need to download the Viewpoints app and set up an account.
You'll then be invited to join "programmes", the completion of which earn you points for your account.
You can exchange these points for cash sent directly to your PayPal account.
It's not clear what the maximum you can earn from one survey is, or how long the average programme will be.
The idea of sharing intimate details about things like your mental well-being with Facebook may be a cause for concern from some.
The company has weathered numerous privacy blunders over the past couple years, most notably the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which the private data of more than 80million people was harvested by a political research firm without users' consent.
When it comes to Viewpoints, Facebook vowed not to sell people's answers to other companies. However, it stopped short of promising not to share them at all.
Facebook Data Breach – what happened?
Here's what you need to know...
- A personality quiz app obtained data for 270,000 willing Facebook users
- But it also sucked up info on all of their Facebook friends
- That meant the app caught data for around 50-60 million users
- This data was reportedly sold on to UK research firm Cambridge Analytica
- Cambridge Analytica helps politicians and lobby groups create propaganda
- The data was supposedly used to boost the Brexit campaign and get Trump into the White House
- Facebook is said to have known about the data breach since 2015
- The social network asked companies with the data to delete it, but didn't enforce the rule
- The Guardian revealed the incident in an exposé thanks to Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Christopher Wylie
- There are now serious questions about whether Facebook has broken laws by giving up this data
"Before you begin any program, we’ll let you know how the information you provide through that program will be used," Facebook said.
";We won’t sell your information from this app to third parties.
"We also won’t publicly share your Facebook Viewpoints activity on Facebook or on other accounts you’ve linked without your permission.
"You can end your participation at any time."
The Sun has reached out to Facebook for further comment.
In other news, Facebook has created a "second News Feed" with no posts from family or friends.
The firm is reportedly ‘secretly building a TV box that can film you’ – and it could have Netflix and Disney apps on too.
And, Facebook and Instagram are getting worse as the apps are ‘crashing 281% more’ this year.
What new features would you like to see added to Facebook? Let us know in the comments!
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