Smartphones are an indispensable part of our lives. We now rely on them to complete most of our daily tasks. One of the biggest problems we face is running out of battery. Our phones, which used to last almost a day and a half when we first bought them, are no longer able to maintain this battery life. This decline is mainly due to the apps we have installed and use. But did you know that one app, commonly used by almost everyone, can quickly drain your battery without you realizing it? Here are the details…
Former Facebook Employee Accuses Company of Illegally Draining Phone Batteries”
George Hayward, a former Facebook employee, recently made a scandalous claim. He alleges that Facebook and Messenger have the ability to purposely drain the batteries of their users’ smartphones. This process, referred to as “Negative Testing,” enables technology companies to secretly run down the batteries of a user’s phone in order to test features within an app.
The former Meta employee, who said he refused to do these tests, describes the dialogue with his boss as follows: “I said to the manager, ‘This can harm somebody,’ and she said by harming a few we can help the greater masses. Any data scientist worth his or her salt will know, Don’t hurt people,”
Hayward, who was soon terminated, filed a lawsuit against the company in the Manhattan Federal Court. The primary basis of the lawsuit is that Facebook users may not have access to their phones when they need it the most. Dan Kaiser emphasized that draining users’ smartphone batteries poses a danger to them. The lawyer added, “It’s illegal and it’s outrageous that anyone can manipulate the battery of my phone.”
At one point during his employment at Meta, the company provided Hayward with an internal training document titled “How to run thoughtful negative tests,” which included examples of how to conduct such tests. This suggests that the social media giant has carried out similar tests in the past. However, Meta has not yet released a statement on the matter, but one is expected to be issued in the near future.
RELATED:
- Twitter Security Breach: Former Employee Claims Engineers Can Tweet from Any Account
- Say Goodbye to Ads on Twitter with New ‘Twitter Blue’ Tier
- Apple & Facebook were reportedly partnering up for a revenue sharing plan
- Detailed specs and images of Facebook Meta’s canceled smartwatch leaked
(via)
