| I had a friend tell me about Onavo in ~2015. I wont delve into what he told me, but at the time I had the "move fast and break things" spirit and thought it was a pretty cool tool that they had figured out to get competitive information. He never showed me anything, but allegedly they could even see what features were being used in other apps. But I don't think this is something he made up, it's been discussed on HN. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16381812 >I wonder if it's be possible to make a social networking startup, optimise solely for Onavo metrics, and get bought out by Facebook. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16373339 >The Onavo VPN service from Facebook is disguised as a protection mechanism but tracks the user for the benefit of Facebook. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14971839 >The database stems from Facebook’s 2013 acquisition of a Tel Aviv-based startup, Onavo, which had built an app that secures users’ privacy by routing their traffic through private servers. The app gives Facebook an unusually detailed look at what users collectively do on their phones, these people say. I am surprised that this accusation is at all controversial. |