The technology giant Apple has removed the Facebook-owned security app Onavo from the Apple Store. This step has been taken because the app failed to follow the privacy policy and rules of the tech major.
It was reported that the app was gathering information about the other apps present on the users’ iPhones for the purpose of advertising or marketing. With this, Facebook was able to know how people use smartphones outside of its own services.
“We work hard to protect user privacy and data security throughout the Apple ecosystem,” an Apple spokesperson said. “With the latest update to our guidelines, we made it explicitly clear that apps should not collect information about which other apps are installed on a user’s device for the purposes of analytics or advertising/marketing and must make it clear what user data will be collected and how it will be used.”
Earlier the company was planning to permanently pull down the app on its own, however, later a report stated that the iPhone owner then asked Facebook to voluntarily remove the app as it disregarded its privacy rules.
Facebook acquired this application in 2013 which created an encrypted VPN connection that routed internet activity through computer servers managed and secured by Facebook. It also alerts users when sites they visit might be dangerous.
“We’ve always been clear when people download Onavo about the information that is collected and how it is used,” a Facebook spokeswoman stated. “As a developer on Apple’s platform, we follow the rules they’ve put in place.”
To this move, Facebook responded by saying that the people who downloaded the Onavo app were informed about the information that was being collected and how it was being used. Facebook for a long time is being accused of privacy matters and it seems to have not ended yet.