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I don't see anything shocking or surprising here, that said I'm glad I don't have shares in facebook Here's one finding > Facebook used Onavo to conduct globa

I don't see anything shocking or surprising here, that said I'm glad I don't have shares in facebook Here's one finding > Facebook used Onavo to conduct global surveys of the usage of mobile apps by customers, > and apparently without their knowledge. They used this data to assess not just how many > people had downloaded apps, but how often they used them. This knowledge helped them to > decide which companies to acquire, and which to treat as a threat Here's Onavo's wikipedia page last edited in October > Facebook has leveraged Onavo's analytics platform to monitor the performance of its competitors, > target companies for acquisition, and make other business decisions. > Media outlets classify Onavo as spyware.

pmart123 8y ago
Hmm, looking at this with a glance, I am surprised the coverage around Onavo hasn't been bigger. If I am following this correctly, it would be similar to Google creating a Firefox extension to enable "extra privacy," but secretly pumping the data back to Google? Or if Windows Defender sent all your web usage data and keystrokes to Microsoft? I'm not sure how this doesn't fit the definition of Spyware?
- disgruntledphd2 8y ago
  Google got all of this data first-party, as search logs are very informative about which websites/services are popular. I'm sure that things like that factored into the decision to buy YouTube, for example. Onavo was a company that tried to sell VPN access to reduce data costs, found out that didn't make money and pivoted to selling reports to publishers and advertisers. Then FB bought them, and treated them like an internal survey organisation. It's a shame really, Onavo could have been the Neilsen of the mobile age, in another timeline. But yeah, people use data (especially private data) to make decisions about their business and others. News at 11.
  - pmart123 8y ago
    Hasn't AppAnnie accomplished being "the Neilsen of the mobile age" in some ways? I'm not sure how AppAnnie collects its data. My guess would be that it is buying data from Foursquare, etc. I don't have much of a problem with that. I suppose I'm more opposed to a large company offering an app that promises privacy yet delivers the exact opposite of privacy.
    - disgruntledphd2 8y ago
      So AppAnnie is directionally accurate, but not massively. Onavo (as far as I understand it), did lots of bias correction (standard survey/panel adjustments really) that tended to give them better population accuracy (which is what you normally care about).

pmart123 8y ago

Hmm, looking at this with a glance, I am surprised the coverage around Onavo hasn't been bigger. If I am following this correctly, it would be similar to Google creating a Firefox extension to enable "extra privacy," but secretly pumping the data back to Google? Or if Windows Defender sent all your web usage data and keystrokes to Microsoft? I'm not sure how this doesn't fit the definition of Spyware?

disgruntledphd2 8y ago
Google got all of this data first-party, as search logs are very informative about which websites/services are popular. I'm sure that things like that factored into the decision to buy YouTube, for example. Onavo was a company that tried to sell VPN access to reduce data costs, found out that didn't make money and pivoted to selling reports to publishers and advertisers. Then FB bought them, and treated them like an internal survey organisation. It's a shame really, Onavo could have been the Neilsen of the mobile age, in another timeline. But yeah, people use data (especially private data) to make decisions about their business and others. News at 11.
- pmart123 8y ago
  Hasn't AppAnnie accomplished being "the Neilsen of the mobile age" in some ways? I'm not sure how AppAnnie collects its data. My guess would be that it is buying data from Foursquare, etc. I don't have much of a problem with that. I suppose I'm more opposed to a large company offering an app that promises privacy yet delivers the exact opposite of privacy.
  - disgruntledphd2 8y ago
    So AppAnnie is directionally accurate, but not massively. Onavo (as far as I understand it), did lots of bias correction (standard survey/panel adjustments really) that tended to give them better population accuracy (which is what you normally care about).