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Facebook’s Onavo Gives Social-Media Firm Inside Peek at Rivals’ Users

wsj.com

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Re: Facebook’s Onavo Gives Social-Media Firm Inside Peek at Rivals’ Users

#91

Post by killedbydeath »

irpapakons wrote: post #2

It's ethically dubious that the advertised function of the app is a VPN to "keep you and your data safe", while the reason it exists is so that all phone traffic goes to Facebook. This is not clear from the app description -- there is only a generic message about monitored app use, to which users are so used as to not pay any attention. > "The app's privacy policy says it may share information with "affiliates" that…

For crypto/security people on this thread, what encryption could app developers use to wrap their API call so that the least amount of information is leaked to this kind of man-in-the-middle services? I.e, is it possible to: 1) hide which apps are installed on iOS/Android; 2) hide or obfuscate how frequently the app is used; 3) hide specific API calls

I assume at least #3 should be achievable with additional encryption.

Re: Facebook’s Onavo Gives Social-Media Firm Inside Peek at Rivals’ Users

#92

Post by khc »

dublinben wrote: post #68
wisepass wrote: post #4

The same article from alternative source https://outline.com/WnGGRk

If you prepend "facebook.com/l.php?u=" to a wsj link, it will let you read the full article. Like so: https://facebook.com/l.php?u=https://www.wsj.com/articles/fa...

that isn't working for me anymore :-(

Re: Facebook’s Onavo Gives Social-Media Firm Inside Peek at Rivals’ Users

#94

Post by Method-X »

sethrin wrote: post #46
samsolomon wrote: post #34

A comment on the WSJ brings up an interesting point—if Zuckerberg were to run for president, would he have access to this information? What else could he have access to? Given the amount of data Facebook has about everybody, I find that possibility worrisome. It seems obvious that a campaign strategist could segment individual states, regions and cities. They could target people based on likes and interests. They cou…

Well, as I've read on this, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that the best predictors of how you're going to vote are already public. Wait, maybe that's the bad news. Either way, as you say one can already do very granular advertising through FB already, but having more data is not necessarily equivalent to having better information, and you're not necessarily trying to market optimally to every pote…

This is about influencing peoples current bias. Preaching to the choir won't win an election; changing the opinion of the opposition will.

Re: Facebook’s Onavo Gives Social-Media Firm Inside Peek at Rivals’ Users

#95

Post by TheSpiceIsLife »

gaius wrote: post #85
TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm just a welder, but... DNS can't log your activity on a website, can it? All DNS does is resolve hosts, right? DNS service can log that you resolved a host, but doesn't know what you did with the IP address it returned.

It can log that you went somewhere that Google could not otherwise track you. And not just websites; mail, SSH, anything else. I'll wager a fair few people's attempts to avoid tracking for certain activities, clearing cookies, private mode, whatever, has been thwarted because they forgot they'd set this up.

I just want to clear here: a DNS server can't track that you visited a site, only that you request a specific record for a host name.

Is that technically correct?

It stands to reason the average internet user probably then made a visited that IP.

Re: Facebook’s Onavo Gives Social-Media Firm Inside Peek at Rivals’ Users

#96

Post by edison85 »

dublinben wrote: post #68
wisepass wrote: post #4

The same article from alternative source https://outline.com/WnGGRk

If you prepend "facebook.com/l.php?u=" to a wsj link, it will let you read the full article. Like so: https://facebook.com/l.php?u=https://www.wsj.com/articles/fa...

Thanks!

Re: Facebook’s Onavo Gives Social-Media Firm Inside Peek at Rivals’ Users

#97

Post by gfodor »

teej wrote: post #15
irpapakons wrote: post #2

It's ethically dubious that the advertised function of the app is a VPN to "keep you and your data safe", while the reason it exists is so that all phone traffic goes to Facebook. This is not clear from the app description -- there is only a generic message about monitored app use, to which users are so used as to not pay any attention. > "The app's privacy policy says it may share information with "affiliates" that…

I once sat in on a pitch from an antivirus software company who was selling the ability to look at the full browsing history of people who had visited your website. You could see all of their searches, if they visited competitors, and more. Most of the time I get annoyed of the FUD of "they're selling my data!" but this was different. It was true and it was scary.

This reminds me of people who would re-sell search query data via aggregation of google referrals across a network (usually ad based.) In general, if there's a way to get that kind of data (search data is gold due to the ability to mine it for adwords niches), you can presume there are people out there who are going to skirt right up to the line of acceptable ethical behavior to try to aggregate it to sell it.

Re: Facebook’s Onavo Gives Social-Media Firm Inside Peek at Rivals’ Users

#98

Post by conanbatt »

irpapakons wrote: post #2

It's ethically dubious that the advertised function of the app is a VPN to "keep you and your data safe", while the reason it exists is so that all phone traffic goes to Facebook. This is not clear from the app description -- there is only a generic message about monitored app use, to which users are so used as to not pay any attention. > "The app's privacy policy says it may share information with "affiliates" that…

This really should be anti-trust, this is not a responsible or accountable way to use this information.

Shady af.

Re: Facebook’s Onavo Gives Social-Media Firm Inside Peek at Rivals’ Users

#99

Post by gaius »

TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #95
gaius wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It can log that you went somewhere that Google could not otherwise track you. And not just websites; mail, SSH, anything else. I'll wager a fair few people's attempts to avoid tracking for certain activities, clearing cookies, private mode, whatever, has been thwarted because they forgot they'd set this up.

I just want to clear here: a DNS server can't track that you visited a site, only that you request a specific record for a host name. Is that technically correct? It stands to reason the average internet user probably then made a visited that IP.

Yes, that is correct. Google use every means possible to track you wherever you go. If that can't get your exact activity, they at least get something.

Re: Facebook’s Onavo Gives Social-Media Firm Inside Peek at Rivals’ Users

#100

Post by yuhong »

teej wrote: post #36
devrandomguy wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That would identify the GP to within a small group (the meeting). They probably worked under an NDA. It would be great if an unrelated leak were to happen, though.

I'm not anonymous. You can identify me by going to my profile if you'd like. To be completely honest, I don't remember. It was 2 years ago and I sit on lots of these pitches. I remember pushing back on them about the methodology, hearing how the sausage was made, and noping right out. I want my team to be able to spend marketing dollars efficiently but I would never compromise my ethics to do so. Luckily I work somew…

I wonder if it was AVG.
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