Onavo Protect: Apple forces Facebook to remove spy VPN from App Store

Facebook has removed Onavo Protect VPN from the App Store at Apple’s request. The Cupertino company believes the service violates the store’s terms of personal data collection. Onavo Protect is a VPN service that claims to protect users against malicious sites and better manage their data envelope. Unlike other services, it doesn’t let you choose the link location, for example, to override a site’s geo-blocking. Facebook reacted to this app’s withdrawal from the App Store in The Verge: “When people download Onavo, we’ve always made it clear what data is collected and how it’s used. […] As developers on the Apple platform, we respect their rules.”

Facebook removes Onavo VPN from App Store: too much spying?

On the Onavo Protect download page of the Google Play Store where the app is available we can actually read: “In order to provide you with these features, Onavo may collect your mobile data. This helps us improve and drive the Onavo service by analyzing how you use sites, apps and data. Because we are part of Facebook, we also use this information to improve Facebook products and services, obtain accurate data about products and services that matter to people, and create better experiences.” In the VPN help pages we learn that the tracking is more or less stable even when the VPN is disabled.

So to the question “why can I still see the vpn icon when protection is disabled?”Facebook explains that the app uses a VPN to block or limit the data consumption of apps and a VPN that is activated while browsing the web. One or the other is permanently enabled and you have to manually disable the VPN to make sure the app stops snooping on your data. Our colleagues at The Verge report that Facebook uses this service as a complementary data collection tool, even when they are not using Facebook apps like Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

Earlier this month, Apple notified Facebook that Onavo violated its terms of use to collect personal data, according to the Wall Street Journal. The app would also violate iOS terms that limit the use of data collected by apps beyond what is strictly necessary, as users’ traffic necessarily passes through Facebook-owned servers and can therefore freely use that data to analyze them. . The firm would later suggest that Facebook voluntarily withdraw the social network’s application, which it had accepted.

Onavo Protect continues to be available on the Google Play Store. What do you think of this retreat? Are you wary of free VPN apps? Share your views in the comments.