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Facebook Shuts Its Onavo Snooping App -- But It Will Continue To Abuse User Privacy

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© 2018 Bloomberg Finance LP

It was already banned from Apple’s App Store, but Facebook has now announced it will shut down its Onavo snooping VPN app for good. The social network said the app will immediately stop pulling market research information from users, but it’ll continue to operate until customers can find an alternative VPN.

It comes after a massive backlash following an investigation by TechCrunch that found the social networking giant was secretly paying people to install the “Facebook Research” VPN.

The irony of a Facebook VPN has not been lost on anyone in the privacy community - and even more so because this VPN allowed the firm to collect a user’s phone and web activity. And the snooping wasn’t just limited to tracking: Facebook even encouraged users to send screenshots of their Amazon “Your Orders” page in a bid to slurp up more data.  

It has been going on since 2016, when the social network first started offering to pay users aged 13 to 35 $20 plus referral fees: All they had to do was download the app.

Facebook’s previous app, Onavo Protect, was banned by Apple last June then removed in August. But then TechCrunch found that Facebook was sidestepping the App Store and rewarding teenagers and adults to download the Research app and give it root access to network traffic. This gave the social network the ability to decrypt and analyze their phone activity.

Facebook is renowned for its data slurping activities and the social network has been breached several times as well as being caught selling user data to the highest bidder. But with this app it really did outdo itself.

Not only was it targeting teenagers as young as 13 to sell their privacy, it was also advertising the service as something that would keep users safe from snooping when surfing the web. And of course, Facebook was not protecting the data: the social network was viewing and analysing this traffic for itself.

The app is now closing, but don’t expect this means the end of Facebook’s continued invasion of user privacy. The data it gathered from its Research app was so valuable that it showed the social network people were using WhatsApp rather than using its Messenger service. Facebook’s response? It bought WhatsApp for a massive $19 billion – and we all know what’s happening to the messaging service now.

The social network hasn’t said it’s going to stop, either: only that you will now know when it’s collecting your data. Facebook says it now will focus on paid programs that require users’ explicit consent. It’s hardly making an effort, given that consent is key under the EU General Update to Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) anyway.

So let’s be honest: the only reason Facebook removed its Research app is because it knew it was only a matter of time before Google did so itself. Tarnished by the Cambridge Analytica scandal and its users’ growing recognition of its lack of respect for data, Facebook will continue to place ads about how it values your privacy. And, of course, it doesn’t.

But people are starting to grow increasingly aware of this. Armed with information about what Facebook is doing with their data, some people are starting to shut their accounts – at least, they are thinking more about what they post and tightening their privacy settings.

At the same time, when Facebook announced it would integrate its Messenger service with WhatsApp and Instagram, people were rightly concerned. Many users are looking to other apps such as Signal as they learn who they can and can’t trust.

In the end, it’s your choice whether you want to use Facebook’s services. The problem is that this choice needs to be informed. Facebook has failed to do this in the past and no doubt will invade people’s privacy again.