Facebook Used Its VPN App To Track Competitors, Documents Reveal (mashable.com) 48
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.
Nope. Goona keep using Facebook. (Score:5, Insightful)
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?
Re: (Score:3)
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.
Counterpoint (Score:1)
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.
Re: (Score:1)
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 f
It's just a tool (Score:2)
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 glimp
Re: (Score:3)
...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.
Re: (Score:2)
Maybe the problem is the size of what you are feeding with.
Facebook VPN (Score:4, Insightful)
The only thing virtual is your privacy.
Slimy, Slimier, Slimiest... (Score:2)
The more we learn about Facebook... (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
That is hilarious! Way to bring Gomer back to current times. Big thumbs up from me.
An ad company is (Score:2)
Ads need content to work out what products and service a user is interested in.
The user is just a product on any network.
Filter (Score:2)
Can I filter these out? None of it is surprising, nor is there anything anyone can do about it.
Will Google fiber be any different ? (Score:2)
Google Fiber [wikipedia.org] 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.
Facebook is a criminal enterprise (Score:2)
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.
Old News (Score:2)
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 [slashdot.org]
Facebook's VPN Service Onavo Protect Collects Personal Data -- Even When It's Switched Off [slashdot.org]
Spying? (Score:2)
And here I was, naively believing that industrial espionage is illegal [wikipedia.org].