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To Facebook, your privacy is worth a $20 gift card
Another day, another Facebook controversy. The latest backlash follows a TechCrunch report that the company was secretly paying teenagers to access their data and basically monitor their every move on the web. Facebook was asking people to install a VPN app called Facebook Research that gave it full access to a user's phone and internet activity. That, according to security expert Will Strafach (who helped TechCrunch with the investigation), gave the company the ability to continuously collect "private messages in social media apps, chats from in instant messaging apps (including photos/videos sent to others), emails, web searches, web browsing activity and even ongoing location information."
Google also has a data-vacuuming iOS app that bypasses the App Store (Update)
Facebook isn't the only tech giant to offer a data-vacuuming app that sidesteps Apple's App Store. Since 2012, Google has allowed people to earn gift cards by offering up their data through its Screenwise project. On iOS and Android, the company gains access to participants' data through a VPN app called Screenwise Meter. But if Facebook's latest turmoils are anything to go by, Google could suffer Apple's ire over it.
Apple bans Facebook from running internal iOS apps following data misuse
Apple isn't taking chances just because Facebook is shutting down the iOS version of its controversial research app. The company told Recode in a statement that it was revoking the enterprise certificates Facebook had been using to distribute the software outside of the App Store. The social network's use of business certificates to distribute apps to non-employees was a "clear breach" of its agreement with Apple, a spokesperson said. However, while the pay-for-user-data app was the main offender, the decision appears to have had broader consequences for Facebook -- numerous internal tools might not work.
Facebook secretly pays users for complete access to their data
According to TechCrunch, Facebook has been paying teenagers around $20 a month to use a VPN app called "Facebook Research" that allowed the company full access to all of their phone and web activity. The app appears to be a reincarnation of Onavo Protect, a Facebook app that was pulled last year due to Apple's privacy objections. As "Facebook Research" seems to have the same features as Onavo, this would appear to be in violation of Apple's privacy policies as well. Facebook has admitted to TechCrunch that the app exists, and that its purpose was to gain insight on usage habits. The program has reportedly been live since 2016, and has been referred to as "Project Atlas" starting in mid-2018.
EA embraces game streaming with its new 'Project Atlas' engine
EA has announced a new cloud gaming development platform called 'Project Atlas' as it eyes a video game streaming future. In a Medium post, CTO Ken Moss said the publisher has devoted a 1,000-strong team to the service. Unlike current setups where a game runs on console hardware mounted on the rack, Project Atlas will seemingly allow devs to build titles from the ground up to run on a cloud server.
