141

Archive.org link

Some key excerpts:

Court filings unsealed last week allege Meta created an internal effort to spy on Snapchat in a secret initiative called “Project Ghostbusters.” Meta did so through Onavo, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) service the company offered between 2016 and 2019 that, ultimately, wasn’t private at all.

It’s Meta’s in-house wiretapping tool to spy on data analytics from Snapchat starting in 2016, later used on YouTube and Amazon. This involved creating “kits” that can be installed on iOS and Android devices, to intercept traffic for certain apps, according to the filings. This was described as a “man-in-the-middle” approach to get data on Facebook’s rivals, but users of Onavo were the “men in the middle.”

Facebook ultimately shut down Onavo in 2019 after Apple booted the VPN from its app store.

Prosecutors also allege that Facebook violated the United States Wiretap Act, which prohibits the intentional procurement of another person’s electronic communications. Onavo could also be considered straight spyware, but also seems to fall under the definition of wiretapping, according to prosecutors.

The court filings show chats and emails that depict Zuckerberg as being directly involved in these communications.

Prosecutors allege Project Ghostbusters harmed competition in the ad industry, adding weight to their central argument that Meta is a monopoly in social media.

top 10 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] Rocketpoweredgorilla@lemmy.ca 34 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Things like this are why I think the whole Facebook "encrypted messaging" thing is just a scam to try and look like they respect your privacy. It doesn't matter if you have the best encryption out there if the doors are wide open for them on either end and they're keylogging everything you do.

[-] apprehentice@lemmy.enchanted.social 19 points 8 months ago

If you don't hold the keys, your data may as well not be encrypted.

[-] bamboo@lemmy.blahaj.zone 15 points 8 months ago

Just when I thought Facebook couldn't go any lower.

[-] Flax_vert@feddit.uk 11 points 8 months ago

Isn't Snapchat terrible at security? Heard of someone who made a plane bombing joke in a private message and the airport wifi intercepted it and he got arrested

[-] pineapple_pizza@lemmy.dexlit.xyz 3 points 8 months ago

Id be surprised if there wasn't basic encryption to prevent a man in the middle attack like you described.

In the article the talk about needing to install certs to read encrypted traffic from the app.

[-] nick@midwest.social 9 points 8 months ago

Guillotines.

[-] catculation@lemmy.zip 7 points 8 months ago

Meta acquired Onavo from an Israeli firm over 10 years ago, promising users private networking, as most VPNs do.

There is no doubt that it is meant to spy. I wonder if zuk bought WhatsApp with the intention to add Pegasus backdoor in it.

[-] UngodlyAudrey@beehaw.org 6 points 8 months ago

I'll never use a Meta/Facebook product if I can help it. They're pure evil.

[-] autotldr@lemmings.world 2 points 8 months ago

🤖 I'm a bot that provides automatic summaries for articles:

Click here to see the summaryCourt filings unsealed last week allege Meta created an internal effort to spy on Snapchat in a secret initiative called “Project Ghostbusters.” Meta did so through Onavo, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) service the company offered between 2016 and 2019 that, ultimately, wasn’t private at all.

“Whenever someone asks a question about Snapchat, the answer is usually that because their traffic is encrypted we have no analytics about them,” said Mark Zuckerberg in an email to three Facebook executives in 2016, unsealed in Meta’s antitrust case on Saturday.

It’s Meta’s in-house wiretapping tool to spy on data analytics from Snapchat starting in 2016, later used on YouTube and Amazon.

Meta acquired Onavo from an Israeli firm over 10 years ago, promising users private networking, as most VPNs do.

However, the service was reportedly used to spy on rival social media apps through tens of millions of people who downloaded Onavo.

Prosecutors also allege that Facebook violated the United States Wiretap Act, which prohibits the intentional procurement of another person’s electronic communications.


Saved 65% of original text.

[-] MonsiuerPatEBrown@reddthat.com 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)
this post was submitted on 26 Mar 2024
141 points (100.0% liked)

Technology

37747 readers
216 users here now

A nice place to discuss rumors, happenings, innovations, and challenges in the technology sphere. We also welcome discussions on the intersections of technology and society. If it’s technological news or discussion of technology, it probably belongs here.

Remember the overriding ethos on Beehaw: Be(e) Nice. Each user you encounter here is a person, and should be treated with kindness (even if they’re wrong, or use a Linux distro you don’t like). Personal attacks will not be tolerated.

Subcommunities on Beehaw:


This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS