 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software |
| Founded | 2010 |
| Founders |
|
| Defunct | 2019 |
| Headquarters | |
| Products |
|
| Services | Onavo Insights |
| Parent | Facebook, Inc. |
| Website | onavo |
Onavo, Inc.[1] was an Israelimobile web analytics company that was purchased by Facebook, Inc. (nowMeta Platforms), who changed the company's name toFacebook Israel.[2] The company primarily performed its activities via consumermobile apps, including thevirtual private network (VPN) service Onavo Protect, which analysedweb traffic sent through the VPN to provide statistics on the usage of other apps.
Guy Rosen and Roi Tiger founded Onavo in 2010. In October 2013, Onavo was acquired by Facebook, which used Onavo's analytics platform to monitor competitors. This influencedFacebook to makevarious business decisions, including its 2014acquisition ofWhatsApp.
Since the acquisition, Onavo was frequently classified as beingspyware, as the VPN was used to monetize application usage data collected within an allegedly privacy-focused environment. In August 2018, Facebook pulled Onavo Protect from theiOSApp Store due to violations ofApple's policy forbidding apps from collecting data on the usage of other apps. In February 2019, in response to criticism over a Facebookmarket research program employing similar techniques (including, in particular, being targeted towards teens), Onavo announced that it would close the Android version of Protect as well.
Onavo was founded in 2010 by Roi Tiger and Guy Rosen.[3] Onavo won multiple awards in 2011. The company received first prize at the Mobile Beat 2011 conference hosted byVentureBeat,[4] and the award for most innovative app at the 2011 International Startup Festival, as well as being selected as the "Best Mobile Startup" byThe Next Web.[5][6]
Onavo had two rounds of funding: the first was a Series A investment for $3 million from Magma Venture Partners andSequoia Capital in May 2011.[7] The second was a Series B investment of $13 million from Magma Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Horizons Ventures. Onavo's sale to Facebook is one of the top exits for Magma Venture Partners and otherIsraeli venture capital firms.[8]
On October 13, 2013,Facebook bought Onavo for approximately $120 million.[9][10][11]
In March 2014,Adi Soffer Teeni was appointed CEO of Facebook Israel.
In an email dated June 9, 2016, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg directed engineers at Facebook to find a method of obtaining "reliable analytics" aboutSnapchat, which he noted that Facebook lacked due to Snapchat's network traffic being encrypted.[12] The solution Facebook engineers proposed to Zuckerberg's directive was to use Onavo, which allowed the company to read network traffic on a device prior to its being encrypted, thereby giving the company the ability "to measure detailed in-app activity" and to collect analytics on Snapchat app usage from devices on which Onavo was installed.[12] It did this by creating "fake digital certificates to impersonate trusted Snapchat, YouTube, and Amazon analytics servers to redirect and decrypt secure traffic from those apps for Facebook’s strategic analysis."[13] The program, which was named "Project Ghostbusters" in reference to Snapchat's ghost-shaped logo, was later expanded to include Amazon andYouTube.[12]
In February 2018, it was reported that Facebook had begun to include advertising for the Onavo Protect app within the Facebook app foriOS users in the United States. This led to denouncements of the app by media outlets, who classified Onavo asspyware because it is used by Facebook to monetize usage habits within a privacy-focused environment, and because the app listing did not contain a prominent disclosure of Facebook's ownership.[14][15][16] The app's listings were later amended to disclaim that Onavo Protect may collect information on app and website usage to improve Facebook products and services.[17][18]
In August 2018, Facebook pulled Onavo Protect from the iOSApp Store after pressure by Apple, who declared it a violation of guidelines barring apps from harvesting data from other apps on a user's device.[25]
On February 21, 2019, in the wake of renewed controversy over the service due to the relatedFacebook Research program, Facebook announced that it would sunset Onavo Protect VPN and pull its app fromGoogle Play Store. Effective immediately, the service ceased collecting personal data.[26]
TheAustralian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) initiated legal proceedings against Facebook on December 16, 2020, alleging that Facebook engaged in "false, misleading or deceptive conduct" by using personal data collected from Onavo "for its own commercial purposes" contrary to Onavo's privacy-oriented marketing. Facebook responded that it was "always clear about the information we collect and how it is used", and would defend itself in court.[27][28] In July 2023Australia's Federal Court ordered Facebook's owner to payA$20 million for failing to disclose how Onavo would be used to collect data, as well asA$400,000 to cover the ACCC's legal fees.[29]
In 2016,Jordana Cutler, who had previously served as the director of AmbassadorRon Dermer's office and as an advisor to Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu, was appointed as Public Policy Director for Facebook Israel.[30]
In September 2016, Israel's Minister of JusticeAyelet Shaked and Minister of Internal SecurityGilad Erdan introduced a bill aimed at curbing onlineincitement andhate speech, imposing restrictions on the dissemination of illegal and offensive content on the Internet and social media platforms. Dubbed the "Facebook Law" by the media, the proposal garnered widespread support within the government. Between 2016 and 2018, it passed through various stages of approval: first gaining endorsement from the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, then advancing through preliminary and first readings in the Knesset Plenum, making it eligible for consideration in theConstitution, Law and Justice Committee. In July 2018, the committee greenlit the bill for its second and third readings, setting the stage for final ratification by the Knesset plenary. However, at the eleventh hour, Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu unexpectedly intervened to halt the process.[31] In response,Nissan Slomiansky, chairman of the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee, asserted that the sudden reversal was prompted by pressure from "large forces" with vested interests.[32] Media reports speculated thatJordana Cutler, Netanyahu's former advisor who serves as Facebook's Public Policy Director in Israel, played a pivotal role in influencing the Prime Minister's decision to block the legislation.[33] LawyerItai Leshem, claimed during his campaign in the2024 Israeli Labor Party leadership election, that this was part of an ongoing allegedbribe between PM Netanyahu and Facebook.[34][35][36]
Onavo maintained consumer-oriented utility apps, including Onavo Count, which trackedbandwidth usage by apps, as well as Onavo Extend and Onavo Protect, which wereVPN services fordata compression and security, respectively.[40]
In 2013, the company launched Onavo Insights, amobile analytics platform that tracked themarket share and active usage of apps using data obtained from Onavo's consumer apps.[38] In 2016, CEOMark Zuckerberg tasked Facebook employees with developing a means to decrypt the network traffic of the video sharing appSnapchat for analytics purposes, citing "how quickly they're growing". A method of intercepting the traffic was developed and proposed by the Onavo team; Facebook internally referred to its analytics scheme as "Project Ghostbusters"—an allusion to Snapchat's logo and thefilm franchise.[41][42]
In August 2017,The Wall Street Journal reported that since the acquisition of Onavo by Facebook, the company had been using the company's data to monitor Snapchat and other startups that are performing "unusually well". This data influenced Facebook to acquireWhatsApp in 2014, and plan avideo chat app to rivalHouseparty in 2017.[43][44][45]
On January 29, 2019,TechCrunch published a report detailing "Project Atlas"—an internalmarket research program employed by Facebook since 2016. It invited users between the ages of 13 and 35 to install the Facebook Research app—allegedly arebranded version of Onavo Protect—on their device, to collect data on their app usage,web browsing history,web search history,location history,personal messages, photos, videos,emails, andAmazon order history. Participants received up to $20 per-month to participate in the program, which was promoted toteenagers viatargeted advertising onInstagram andSnapchat. Facebook Research is administered by third-partybeta testing services, including Applause and BetaBound, and requires users to install a Facebookroot certificate on their phone. On iOS, this is prohibited byApple's Enterprise Developer License Agreement, as the methods used are intended solely for use by a company's employees (for use cases such as internal software specific to their environment, and internal pre-release versions of apps).[10][46]
Facebook initially responded by claiming that Facebook Research did not violate Apple's developer license agreement, and denied that the program was intended to bypass the rules that banned Onavo Protect from the iOS App Store, nor was intended to replace Onavo. Facebook later announced that it would discontinue the Facebook Research program on iOS. Facebook Research remains available forAndroid devices.[47][10]
On January 30, 2019, Apple revoked Facebook's Enterprise Developer Programcertificates, which caused all of the company's internal iOS apps (including beta versions of its public software, as well as internal apps relating to Facebook's workplace) to become inoperable.[48][49] Apple'spublic relations team stated that "Facebook has been using their membership to distribute a data-collecting app to consumers, which is a clear breach of their agreement with Apple", and that the certificates were revoked "to protect our users and their data".[48] Apple reinstated the certificates on January 31.[50]
Of particular concern was that users as young as 13 were allowed to participate in the program. Connecticut SenatorRichard Blumenthal criticized Facebook Research, stating "wiretapping teens is not research, and it should never be permissible. This is yet another astonishing example of Facebook’s complete disregard for data privacy and eagerness to engage inanti-competitive behavior."[51][52] Massachusetts SenatorEd Markey announced that he would introduce a bill to strengthen theChildren's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), and said that it "is inherently manipulative to offer teens money in exchange for their personal information when younger users don’t have a clear understanding how much data they're handing over and how sensitive it is."[51][52] Virginia SenatorMark Warner published anopen letter toMark Zuckerberg, in which he declared that he was "working on legislation to require individualized, informed consent in all instances of behavioral and market research conducted by large platforms on users".[51]
After discontinuing Onavo Protect and Facebook Research, Facebook released a market research app namedFacebook Study (also known asStudy orStudy from Facebook) on June 11, 2019. Access to Study is restricted to Facebook users who are at least 18 years old. Addressing concerns with previous incarnations of the research app, Study does not use a VPN or a root certificate to conduct its data collection. Study participants are paid throughPayPal.[53][54]
In 2020, aclass-action lawsuit was filed on behalf of Facebook users, alleging that the company "exploited the rich data it deceptively extracted from its users to identify nascent competitors and then 'acquire, copy, or kill' these firms".[55]