Forbes’ Kashmir Hill reports Facebook added the term “research” to its user agreement approximately four months after its now infamous study on emotional contagion. Some have defended the study, noting that Facebook’s current user agreement explicitly says it can use data for research, but Hill points out critics “were all relying on what Facebook’s data policy says now,” adding it was not until May 2012 that Facebook made changes to its data use policy to reflect research exceptions. A Facebook spokesperson said, “To suggest we conducted any corporate research without permission is complete fiction.” In a column for The New York Times, Jaron Lanier writes, “My guess is that the public would choose to outlaw using our communication tools as conduits for secret, algorithmic manipulations of our emotions.”
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