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Notes on Analytics and Tracking in Onavo Protect for iOS
- TwoNineA 9y agoFrom the same company who asked their users if it was ok for grown men to ask nude pictures from 14 year old girls.
- ramses0 9y agoSource?
- davidgould 9y agohttps://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/05/facebook-men-children-sexual-images?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/05/facebook-...
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- ravenstine 9y agoI uninstalled every Facebook product from my phone. Turns out I really didn't need Messenger after all. As I still concede to using Facebook, I have decided to install a Chrome shortcut to mbasic.facebook.com. It does everything I need without tons of scripting, doesn't optimistically download content, and loads fast when my bandwidth is reduced. It never notifies me, and that's a good thing. Without infinite scrolling, I'm less likely to waste time. Maybe I'll decide to ditch Facebook entirely, but for now, using mbasic has been a healthier alternative. My 4g LTE bandwidth seems to last longer, too. With HTTPS and a mobile connection, I can't see why I would need a VPN for Facebook.
- javiercp 9y agoCool! I didn't know about mbasic.facebook.com I don't want to use Mesenger but I need to use FB to keep in touch with my family abroad. I always have to make the browser render the non-mobile site. I've just changed my bookmark and I'm not looking back. :)
- mattnewton 9y ago+1 for mbasic.facebook.com I never use the rest of the site, but there are some contacts that I can only reliably reach through messenger
- seba_dos1 9y ago+1. If you still want to receive some basic notifications on incoming messages, FaceSlim app is very nice :) https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.indywidualni.fblite/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.indywidualni.fblite/
- parthdesai 9y agoUninstalled Fb app and messenger long time ago. I can't uninstall whatsapp even if i wanted to and it's hard to uninstall Instagram.
- ravenstine 9y agoI remember uninstalling Facebook was pretty difficult. I was only able to truly get rid of it by rooting my phone(I didn't do it for that purpose, but that ended up being one benefit). They must pay Samsung a lot of money because there's no good reason why a non-critical app would be so hard to remove.
- parthdesai 9y agoI can't uninstall whatsapp because my entire family communicates via whatsapp.
- niels 9y agoI convinced my family to move to Signal. Perhaps try that.
- marak830 9y agoConversely I found Line messenger works well. :-)
- parthdesai 9y agoSure, i can try to convince my immediate family. But cousins and everyone? It's too much to ask
- Karunamon 9y agoWouldn't merely disabling the app (in system -> applications) have accomplished the same except for freeing up a couple hundred megs of storage on the system partition? Disabled apps don't have their services run.
- cityzen 9y agoLook, it is 2018, “Facebook” and “collecting data” shouldn’t be any surprise to anyone. Stop using Facebook or submit to your data overlords but please, PLEASE stop posting this stuff. Facebook should never be trusted.
- 908087 9y agoWhen something is a problem, you should shine more light on it, not avoid talking about it because it "isn't a surprise". The general public has a short memory for this kind of thing, and no, not everyone is aware of the trade-off they're making with these services, or the true extent of the surveillance and manipulation they're submitting themselves to. Much of society is just finally beginning to wake up to the dangers these companies present. Now is not the time to go silent about the issue. Quite the opposite.
- danso 9y agoPeople come to the mindset of distrust through the publicizing of these incidents/decisions. Don't assume that everyone is at where you are.
- willstrafach 9y ago> PLEASE stop posting this stuff. Facebook should never be trusted. Hi. I wrote the post and I disagree. There is a great deal of rhetoric and scaremongering these days when it comes to cyber security coverage in the media. I think it is important to actually look at the available data and ask direct questions derived from it. I am fully aware that Facebook is not a bastion of privacy by any stretch, but collecting observable facts regarding this matter can allow people to better understand what is happening beyond “Facebook is invading your privacy” and decide how they feel about it.
- yayitsreallyme 9y agoThe founder of Onavo is shady and a sociopath.
- willstrafach 9y agoI was not aware of this, do you have additional information to share?
- yayitsreallyme 9y agoNothing specific that I'm comfortable sharing. Talk to people that have reported to him.
- Feniks 9y ago"available free of charge" And that's the point were you become the product.
- joelrunyon 9y agoIs there an upcoming product similar to instagram? I really am over all the main facebook products, but seems like instagram has a monopoly on that specific category of apps.
- gnode 9y agoI heard about Vero ( https://www.vero.co/ https://www.vero.co/ ) the other day. Their business model is to allow the first wave of users to join for free, then later charge a subscription to new users. I don't know whether they'll be a contender in the long run, but they've experienced rapid growth recently (unfortunately leading to service scaling issues).
- ballenf 9y agoThis is the app that was instrumental in FB consolidating their monopoly on horizontal markets, using the data pickpocketed from users to analyze potential acquisition targets. We need to explore whether antitrust scrutiny should consider data hoarding as a factor. I also wonder if this sleaziness is why we can't have ad-blocking faux-VPN apps on iOS anymore (see AdGuard, e.g.). FB weren't the only ones abusing users' trust, but there were legit apps that allowed one to selectively block any device connection (not just DNS lookups) without any data leakage -- all blocking done on-device. But no more as of fall 2017.
- willstrafach 9y agoInterestingly, Onavo Protect is using the same method (Packet Tunnel Provider) to send analytics data out. I am very curious if Apple is OK with that.
- Talyen42 9y agoNext up: FBI buys VPN service, promises everything is chill
- jerkstate 9y agoMaybe you didn't see this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16501630 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16501630
- searchencrypt 9y agoSketchy.
- djrogers 9y agoOf course it does, as it explicitly claims to in the App description. What's news here? Also, that's some of the worst scroll-jacking and browser behavior modification I've come across - you cannot read it zoomed in on Safari because it jumps around instead of scrolling.
- searchencrypt 9y agoIt's news because people use VPNs to protect their privacy. If they are under the impression that Onavo will keep their data private, they are wrong. Just trying to inform...
- czardoz 9y agoThe app description does not even mention privacy.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- searchencrypt 9y agoIt does say "take charge of how you use mobile data and protect your personal info." Protect personal info from what? That implies privacy.
- czardoz 9y agoFrom attackers maybe? Protection in no way implies privacy.
- mfringel 9y agoThis is not about your expectations. This is about the expectations of a user who knows that VPN stands for "Virtual Private Network", and that the feature has the word "Protect" in the title. FB creates the expectation of privacy by using those terms, and they (or you) don't get out from under that expectation by splitting hairs.
- whoisjuan 9y agoThis is not surprising at all... This is why they bought Onavo. Onavo gives them a clear picture of how competing apps like Snapchat are doing and gives them an idea of potential threats to their business.
- willstrafach 9y agoThat is a rehash if old information. My post includes new information: - The app will track when your phone screen is on and when it is off, and send that to Facebook - The app will track your daily Wi-Fi and cellular data usage, even when not connected to the VPN, and send that to Facebook
- product50 9y agoThis is such a bs article. Onavo is a VPN - what are they expecting from it?
- searchencrypt 9y agoMost people would expect a VPN to protect their data from websites, rather than sharing it with Facebook.
- czardoz 9y agoWell the app description explicitly says that it collects traffic.
- searchencrypt 9y agoVPNs by definition gather information about browsing behavior. Sharing it with Facebook is where it becomes an issue.
- czardoz 9y agoIt's not an issue if you care enough to read the description. This is not some underhanded sneaky thing that Facebook's trying to hide. Users can choose not to install the app.
- product50 9y agoThat is a different argument than what the author is making in the article. Don't go on a tangent. Also, Onavo was acquired by FB in 2013. What were you expecting FB to do with it? It is not even the most popular VPN app.
- willstrafach 9y agoI made no argument. I presented factual and new information about what data is collected and asked some questions.
- TravelTechGuy 9y agoIf you want a VPN (P == Private), don't get one from a company that treats "privacy" like a four-letter word. Just as you shouldn't trust an ad blocker put forth by an ad company.