Slashdot Mirror
Facebook Used Its VPN App To Track Competitors, Documents Reveal (mashable.com)
Newly public documents reveal just how paranoid Facebook was of its potential competitors and shines new light on some of the company's most important acquisitions. From a report: The internal documents, made public as part of a cache of documents released by UK lawmakers, show just how close an eye the social network was keeping on competitors like WhatsApp and Snapchat, both of which became acquisition targets. The documents, which are labeled "highly confidential," show slides from an internal presentation in 2013 that compares Facebook's reach to competing apps, including WhatsApp and Snapchat. While Facebook and Instagram lead in marketshare, it's clear why Facebook may have viewed Snapchat and WhatsApp as potential threats. [...] Facebook's presentation relied on data from Onavo, the virtual private network (VPN) service which Facebook also acquired several months later. Facebook's use of Onavo, which has been likened to "corporate spyware," has itself been controversial.
Stop feeding these faggots.
The only thing virtual is your privacy.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Slime thy name is Facebook.
... the worse Facebook looks.
"Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!"
going to ad.
Ads need content to work out what products and service a user is interested in.
The user is just a product on any network.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES FOR YOUR LIES NAZI FAGGOT KEN DOLL FOR YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY
Filter error: Don't use so many caps. It's like YELLING. Filter error: Don't use so many caps. It's like YELLING.
Almost no-one cares that Facebook is doing all this.
I knew they were doing stuff as mentioned in the summary, as soon as I heard they had a VPN offering. It was obvious. They would because they could.
So I still use Facebook, I'm just mindful of what they are collecting (which is everything possible). I probably would not use the VPN because that is a step to revelatory for me, but on a platform dedicated to over-sharing with others, why are you surprised to find people do not also mind sharing all kinds of data with Facebook?
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
(Facebook/Google) used (something) to track people.
Can I filter these out? None of it is surprising, nor is there anything anyone can do about it.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
Google Fiber will be doing exactly the same thing -- recording where its subscribers visit. I do not have any evidence, but would be very surprised if it did not.
> Stop feeding these faggots.
Maybe the problem is the size of what you are feeding with.
I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
Continue to suck Zuck off for shekels like a good Republican. That's a good bitch.
Unlike you, I have mostly quit Facebook. I'm convinced that social media use is generally unhealthy, especially when Facebook is using algorithms to prioritize news feed content and maximize the amount of time a user spends in the app.
There are two ways to look at this. Using a VPN gives you the option of limiting the ability of your ISP to track you, but at the expense of possibly allowing the VPN service to track you, instead. There are plenty of popular VPN services that track users. Anyone using a free service, whether a VPN or otherwise, should be wary that the service is probably monetizing users through other ways. This is not surprising. If you didn't quit Facebook for other abuses, this probably wouldn't make you do it, either. It's not surprising, nor is it inconsistent with other free VPN services.
The other way to look at this is that it's an antitrust issue. Facebook claims a massive amount of users, almost a third of the world's population. While they're undoubtedly inflating those numbers, there's no denying their market share. This sure seems like anticompetitive behavior that runs afoul of the Sherman Antitrust Act. That should actually be the bigger issue here because, if Facebook used anticompetitive tactics that influenced acquiring competitors, it seems like a strong legal basis for splitting Facebook into smaller companies.
Looks like someone cannot read what I wrote - I knew they would be using data generically from a VPN feed, whatever they could - this particular exact confirmation is just a subset of what I knew they would be using.
Don't worry kid, someday you'll be smart enough to figure out how to login, then maybe you'll be able to hand with your intellectual betters.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Led by a fraudster. A den of far leftists who spy on their users and they won't let you leave. They also have no understanding of why you don't want their service.
Corporatism != Free Market
I'm convinced that social media use is generally unhealthy
I can hit myself in the head with a hammer but it doesn't mean I foreswear all hammers.
Use Facebook for what it is - a tool. Not even that great a tool honestly (as you mentioned about feed priorities, the end effects comes off as a hostile flavor of random since if you refresh a page you will never see the same update again). But it's nice to spread the word every now and then about something you did that was interesting, or catch occasional glimpses of friend's lives through the hell-fog that is the New Feed.
Actually what is a bit more useful seems to be groups, I don't think they mangle the feed as much and you can find a more devoted group of people on some subject there. That's a decent tool even for photo sharing.
While they're undoubtedly inflating those numbers, there's no denying their market share. This sure seems like anticompetitive behavior
Successful is not the same as anti-competitive. Honestly you could argue that Facebook is so hopelessly inept at UI there's no way to consider them a monopoly as literally anyone could do a better job than they do. In fact if Facebook were not such a mess they would have very likely absorbed all Twitter users long ago.
I do see where you are gong with the insider info of users of other platforms potentially being used to gain users, but again I think Facebook is so poorly run there's no way they made any successful use of that understanding to gain users... all users Facebook has is purely due to network effect.
Also just because Facebook gained users does not mean other platforms lost them, so I'm also not sure from that angle you could make an anti-competitive case.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES FOR YOUR LIES NAZI FAGGOT KEN DOLL FOR YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY
Filter error: Don't use so many caps. It's like YELLING. Filter error: Don't use so many caps. It's like YELLING
THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES FOR YOUR LIES NAZI FAGGOT KEN DOLL FOR YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY
Filter error: Don't use so many caps. It's like YELLING Filter error: Don't use so many caps. It's like YELLING
This is old news. We've known about this since the beginning of the year.
Facebook is Pushing Its Data-tracking Onavo VPN Within Its Main Mobile App
Facebook's VPN Service Onavo Protect Collects Personal Data -- Even When It's Switched Off
Again, SMART people care, but these emails were just dumped within 24 hours = you're a lying cunt Kendall. https://www.recode.net/2018/2/12/16998750/facebooks-teen-users-decline-instagram-snap-emarketer
And here I was, naively believing that industrial espionage is illegal.
Don't use a Facebook VPN. Or a Google VPN. ExpressVPN, Nord and PIA are all better options.
...so I still use FaceBook...
*facepalm*
Donald Trump can say anything and still get elected. Saudi Arabia can kill a man in their consulate and suffer no political consequences. Uber can lie, cheat, and commit manslaughter without losing any business. People won't lift a finger to stop these institutions if it means they are slightly inconvenienced. I bet a TV executive could mow down 50 people in broad daylight and if the protest required people to miss their favorite TV show, nobody would attend.
Again, SMART people care
Counterpoint: I don't care, you do, therefore no.
I'll let you have the last word because idiots do like to prattle on instead of letting a perfect point of clarity sit for all to understand.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Zuckerberg told his executives to not use iphones. newspaper article
It seems likely that he was concerned that Apple could be watching them, perhaps a realistic concern.