“Facebook Inc. plans to pull its data-security app from Apple Inc.’s app store after the iPhone maker ruled that the service violated its data-collection policies, according to a person familiar with the matter.,” Deepa Seetharaman reports for The Wall Street Journal.
“Apple’s decision widens the schism between the two tech giants over privacy and is a blow to Facebook, which has used data gathered through the app to track rivals and scope out new product categories,” Seetharaman reports. “The app, called Onavo Protect, has been available free download through Apple’s app store for years, with updates regularly approved by Apple’s app-review board.”
“Onavo allows users to create a virtual private network that redirects internet traffic to a private server managed by Facebook,” Seetharaman reports. “Facebook is able to collect and analyze Onavo users’ activity to get a picture of how people use their phones beyond Facebook’s apps.”
“Earlier this month, Apple officials informed Facebook that the app violated new rules outlined in June designed to limit data collection by app developers, the person familiar with the situation said,” Seetharaman reports. “The app won’t vanish from the phones of users who have already downloaded the app, but Facebook will no longer be able to push updates of the app. Onavo will still be available on Android phones, the person said.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Of course, it’ll still be avalable on Android, the privacy-trampling, user-tracking OS.
Good riddance from the App Store!
SEE ALSO:
Android sucks 10x more personal data than Apple’s iPhone – August 22, 2018
good on Apple, great move. They should also remove the Facebook app. It is a huge battery hogg. Shame it took Apple so long to remove this horrible app, and let it stay and do its dirty deed all these years
Definitely a terrible app. Even Snoop Dogg’s comments are more useful than No-Navo from Crapbook.
I am not a fan of SD but, in this case, I have to agree with him. Apple should have either removed this app a long time ago, or placed a public disclosure on the app that the implementation of the FB VPN funnels all of your web traffic to FB to collect and sell.
I thought Facebook removed the app voluntarily after Apple asked them to?
The title says Apple removed the app…
I’m confused now. What’s the true story?
According to the story, Apple informed Facebook that the app violated the privacy guidelines. Facebook could have tried to fix the problem but chose to remove it instead.
Facebook another parasite company being shown the door, next Google.
Time has proven Google and Facebook are deviant & dishonest players. In time Amazon will be added to the list as well. If more info was public, I propose they’d be there already.
Besides, Amazon is estimated to “capture” approximately 50% of the US retail market by year’s end. Unless one is a Amazon stock holder, or higher-level employee, this isn’t progress I embrace.
If you were on the edge of your seat wondering what Facebook s next major consumer privacy headache would be, the wait is over! The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple has deemed Facebook-owned app Onavo in violation of its App Store policies and will be giving it the boot shortly.