Facebook pays users to access smartphone data via VPN app
Facebook pays smartphone users to install a ‘Facebook Research’ app. With this vpn app, Facebook gets seemingly almost limitless access to the phone’s content and data, including private messages and internet traffic.
TechCrunch reports that since 2016, Facebook has been paying users between the ages of 13 and 35 up to $20 a month to install the app on Android or iOS. Users who agree to this effectively agree to surrender their privacy. Facebook can, among other things, view private messages in social media apps, view conversations in chat apps, including sent photos and videos, and read emails. The company also has access to internet searches, browsing activity and location data through the app based on the feeds of any installed apps that track location. The app requires root certificate access, which gives Facebook access to a multitude of data.
A Facebook spokesperson has confirmed the app’s existence and deployment. According to the company, the app is used to find out how people use their phone and services. “Like many companies, we invite people to participate in research that helps us identify areas that we can improve,” the spokesperson said. He says Facebook has no intention of stopping the project. The app was deployed for the first time in 2016. According to the company, people who consent will receive comprehensive information about the type of data collected and the information obtained will not be shared with others. Users could quit the project at any time.
Facebook’s Research app appears to contain quite a bit of code from the Onavo Project. Onavo Protect – VPN Security is a free VPN app that has come under controversy because Facebook allegedly used it to map apps on users’ smartphones. Apple declared last year that this app violated the terms of the App Store, after which Facebook removed the free Onavo VPN app from the download store on Apple’s behalf. The app is still available on Android.
The Facebook Research app can only be installed and updated outside the App Store, via services such as Applause, BetaBound and uTest. According to the Facebook spokesperson, the Research app is in line with Apple’s Enterprise Certification program. After installing the app, Facebook asks users to install an Enterprise Developer Certificate and to give Facebook root access to the data sent from their phone. Apple only allows such use of these certificates if developers want to distribute their apps internally to their colleagues.
TechCrunch has spoken to Apple; the company is aware of the existence of the Facebook Research app, but has not yet released a statement. Facebook states that Onavo and Facebook Research are two separate programs, but the Facebook spokesperson acknowledges that the same teams support both apps. He sees that as an explanation for the fact that the code of both apps has so many similarities.