Facebook Data

The recent news regarding Cambridge Analytica’s use of Facebook data has certainly brought increased attention to the use of social media in the political sector. As a result, we feel it is appropriate for any company that accesses data from Facebook to be asked questions about how they are using that data and for what purposes. At Eyesover, we want to be completely open and transparent about our usage of Facebook data given the interest that the news of the previous few days has created.

It is important to note that social media platforms such as Facebook authorize certain public data to be available to third-party developers such as Eyesover. By providing this data, developers can innovate and create applications that can solve problems, enhance the Facebook user’s experience, or both. Any developer that accesses this data does so with the understanding that they must adhere to the current Terms of Use prescribed by Facebook.

The Facebook data that Eyesover accesses and uses in our system is limited to that which is deemed to be public. We cannot access any data from individual profiles, nor do we receive any data pertaining to the individuals who post on public pages, pages we must specifically request access to from the Facebook API. We simply receive the text of the posts or comments and use this information to determine what issues people are discussing from these pages.

Given the details of the recent stories in the media, we also must make it clear that we do not possess any Facebook data that may have been obtained under previous versions of Facebook’s Terms of Use.

At Eyesover, we have always been focused on discovering new and emerging issues and how those issues are impacting our customers. We are much more focused on what people are saying, rather than who is saying it and we have always found Facebook data very helpful in creating insights for our customers without the need for the personal information of the content creator.
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We have always and will continue to access this data only through methods authorized by Facebook, ensure our usage of the data strictly adheres to Facebook’s Terms of Use, and provide our customers with real-time research and public opinion on the issues that matter to them.