Apple Removes Facebook's Onavo Security App From the App Store (cnbc.com)

Apple has removed Facebook's Onavo security app from the App Store because it violated the company's privacy rules. In a statement to CNBC, an Apple spokesperson said: "We work hard to protect user privacy and data security throughout the Apple ecosystem. With the latest update to our guidelines, we made it explicitly clear that apps should not collect information about which other apps are installed on a user's device for the purposes of analytics or advertising/marketing and must make it clear what user data will be collected and how it will be used." From the report: According to a Wall Street Journal story on Wednesday, citing a person familiar with the matter, Apple officials told Facebook last week that Onavo violated the company's rules on data collection by developers, and suggested last Thursday that Facebook voluntarily remove the app. Facebook acquired Israel-based Onavo in 2013, snapping up the free security app that lets users access a virtual private network, or VPN, to browse the web and download apps with a greater degree of privacy. Facebook in the past has offered that service to users without clearly disclosing that its owns the app, and has collected data about what other types of apps those customers use. In June, Facebook told Congress that it does not use Onavo data "for Facebook product uses" or to collect information about individuals, but it has admitted to using Onavo to gather broad information about which apps are popular and how people are using them, which it uses to improve its own products.

Comments

I live in Venezuela, use Onavo and will keep using

[williamyf]

I already told A LOT about me to Facebook, on my own volition. What they are able to collect with Onavo is peanuts in comparison.

I also tend to recomend Onavo, but ONLY in facebook. After all, if some contact of mine reads my recomendation in Facebook, it means that they too have given FB enough info so far that what FB collects through Onavo is peanuts.

I use Onavo in my android Phone. Onavo is easy to set up, easy to use, free, mantained by a well known company that will be here tomorrow, and let's me access sites my oppresive government deems unappropiate, as well as sites that are collateral damage of the censorship. I do not need to define the country I use to connect, nor am I torrenting, or streaming on my phone.

What's not to like? Spying? Again, I told FB all they need to know, whatever they gather through Onavo is peanuts.

On my Mac, on the other hand, I use ProtonVPN, where (I think) they are not spying on me, I can chose the country, I can Torrent* or stream if so I please, and have a VM with TAILS (yes, I know, TAILS on a VM is not the most secure, but I have no money for 2 PCs, and booting TAILS from a pen-drive is a pain in the nuts).

Moral of the story is: use the tool best fitted for the job.

And in the end, I'd rather have mark suckerberg spying on me than Nicolas Maduro...

* Right now, among other things, I am seeding Tails i386 2.12 (the last one with I2P), Latest tails, latest Kali, CrunchbangPP 32 and 64, and libreoffice win32 and LO for OSX...