Apple Withdrew Facebook’s Developer Credentials Over An App That Mined Teenagers’ Device Data

Operating under the entirely Orwellian title “Facebook Research,” the app that got Apple up in arms paid users as young as 13 years of age $20 a month in exchange for unbridled access to their emails, web searches, browsing activity, private messages and other sensitive data. The iOS app was found to be in flagrant violation of Apple’s strict developer policies. Targeted at 13 to 35 year olds in possession of iPhones or iPads, the app was ostensibly designed to mine data for market research purposes.

Adding to the dodgy nature of the app was the way it was uploaded to devices. Rather than finding it in App Store, users had to side-load it, most of them not concerned about letting the app take the backdoor in as they were incentivised by the prospect of monthly pocket money. An Apple spokesperson had this to say about the fiasco: “We designed our Enterprise Developer Program solely for the internal distribution of apps within an organization. Facebook has been using their membership to distribute a data-collecting app to consumers, which is a clear breach of their agreement with Apple. Any developer using their enterprise certificates to distribute apps to consumers will have their certificates revoked, which is what we did in this case to protect our users and their data.”

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While Facebook was forced to shut the iOS iteration of the app down immediately upon having their developer membership revoked, the company claims this was merely a blip on the radar. Their spokesperson claimed: “We are in the process of getting our internal apps up and running. To be clear, this didn’t have an impact on our consumer-facing services.” This is not the first time Apple and Facebook have clashed. In August of 2018, Facebook’s data-collecting app, “Onavo VPN,” was also jettisoned from the App Store. Once again, Facebook was enigmatic: “As a developer on Apple’s platform, we follow the rules they’ve put in place.”

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While Zuckerberg’s data-mining apps just aren’t washing with Apple, Facebook Research continues to be offered on Android devices. In an interview with BuzzFeed News, a spokesperson for the social media giant admitted that the Onavo Protect VPN service operated in much the same way as the newer Facebook Research app. Indeed, TechCrunch confirmed that the code is much the same in each app. In Apple’s view, both are in violation of the policies they have in place to protect users and their personal data.

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I Christopher Colombus was the first European explorer to discover America, reaching it in 1492. While it was most commonly referred to as the "New World" in the early days, Columbus eventually named the continent after Amerigo Vespucci in 1507. America offered fresh new trade passages, control, influence, treasures, and wealth to some of Europe's most powerful nations. There was a new frontier and whoever had control of America would secure even greater power, not just in the region but in the rest of the world.
II The American colonies, created by various powerful nations in Europe, were short on the labor they needed to harness the riches of the newly explored lands. Extremely profitable harvests like sugar, tobacco, and cotton paved the birth of slave labor systems within plantations. Economic development became linked to progressively expanding these plantations and establishing new ones, most of which were situated in the South.
III The discovery of the New World was prompted by the birth of the Renaissance, a period in which the people of Europe were constantly searching for innovations, new trade routes, and the potential of spreading religion and culture to other parts of the world. European nations were also planning on establishing Empires. The race to obtain territories in the New World was fiercely battled by several powerful countries in Europe, namely England, Spain, France, and the Netherlands.
IV There were three main reasons why Spain ventured into America. First, was to convert its native inhabitants to the Roman Catholic religion. Next, was to take advantage of a cheap source of labor that they could exploit to extract precious resources and materials from the abundant lands. And finally, it allowed Spain to grant property and settlements to aristocratic families who were vital to the growth of the Empire.
V For the French, the conquest of the New World was all about obtaining riches via trade, particularly the profitable fur trade. France considered the Native Americans as valuable trading partners and formed alliances with them. The French put minimal effort into settling in the fertile American lands; they concentrated their expansion to Canada, which they referred to as New France.
VI England promoted building colonies in the New World. They were more interested in settling than establishing trade with its inhabitants, so put little effort into creating alliances with the Natives. The British crown planned on asserting its control over the 13 colonies. However, the eventual absence of British imperial authority over America allowed its American colonists to build the grounds of a free and sovereign country which paved the way to the American Revolution (1775 to 1783) and the subsequent Declaration of Independence.

Apple Withdrew Facebook’s Developer Credentials Over An App That Mined Teenagers’ Device Data

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