Facebook to pull Onavo Protect data collection VPN app from App Store over privacy risks

Facebook’s Onavo Protect app, a VPN-based data collection app, will be pulled from Apple’s App Store.

Facebook’s Onavo Protect app, a VPN-based data collection app, will be pulled from Apple’s App Store. Reported by the Wall Street Journal, the pullout comes as Apple says the app violates data collection guidelines of the App Store. The new rules, introduced in June post the implementation of the European Union’s GDPR, restrict the ability to sell user data to third parties.

As per the report, Apple did not force Facebook to pull the Onavo Protect app down from its app store. Onavo’s function as a virtual private network (VPN) app is to monitor the behaviour of smartphone users outside Facebook’s core apps. Among other things, this has helped the social network work out its live video strategy, and competition from other social media apps. It was found that Facebook was using the traffic from its private servers for detailed analysis. Also, Onava Protect has been found violating the App Store’s rules on app makers using data outside a software’s core functions.

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As part of the negotiations held last week over Onavo, Apple had asked Facebook to voluntarily remove the app from App Store. The fallout of the meeting suggests that Facebook could soon be plugging off the app for iOS users. Claiming that it has been transparent about the function of its VPN app, a Facebook representative told The Verge that they will abide by Apple’s platform rules. In the meantime, Apple device owners who already own the app can use it, though they will not receive any updates. WSJ has also said that Onavo will continue on Google Play Store for now.

When it came into existence, Onava was an Israeli analytics startup. Subsequently, it was bought by Facebook in 2013. Onavo Protect is expected to be removed from App Store soon.