A former employee of Meta takes his ex-company to court for illegal practices. According to him, Facebook can drain the batteries of users’ smartphones as part of tests.
33-year-old data scientist George Hayward was fired last November from Meta for refusing to participate in negative tests on the Facebook and Messenger apps. He started a lawsuit against his former company in Manhattan court. According to him, Meta can drain the batteries of its users’ smartphones without their knowledge to carry out tests.
Facebook would drain your battery to test its mobile app
Trusting in New York PostGeorge Hayward speaks of the practice ofnegative testss”: it allows digital companies to secretly drain a user’s battery in order to test certain functionalities or problem solving. This may be related to the running speed of an application or the loading of an image.
When asked to make it, the ex-employee had retorted to his director that it could harm someone. She would have replied:by harming a few, we can help the many“. He had been hired in October 2019 “for a six-figure position“says the newspaper. While Hayward doesn’t know how many people were affected by the negative tests, he believes Meta is resorting to the practice. He had received an internal training document titled: “How to Run Reflective Negative Tests“. A document that contains examples, but has not been disclosed.
A practice that can have serious consequences
For George Hayward, emptying the battery of a smartphone can prevent its user from communicating, in particular with the police or the emergency services, as he indicated in his complaint. In addition, we can think that it damages the batteries of the devices, since they must undergo more recharge cycles.
The lawsuit, which sought damages, was dismissed, with Hayward required to go to arbitration. For his lawyer, the practice is illegal. As for Meta, the company has not expressed its opinion on the matter.
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