Posted on 01/29/2019 8:08:47 PM PST by BenLurkin
Outlined in a exposé by TechCrunch, Facebook's latest gambit to acquire user data pays participants $20 plus referral fees for nearly unfettered access to iOS usage patterns and activity.
Through the Facebook Research app for iOS, which has been available since 2016, the company is able to collect data by enabling root access to a user's device. Marketed as a "social media research study," the VPN app is distributed through beta testing services Applause, BetaBound and uTest, the report says.
Facebook relies on the three software testing platforms to enable sideloading of the Research app, effectively bypassing Apple's App Store and its stringent guidelines.
The entire operation smacks of deception and appears to fly in the face of Apple's good faith developer agreements. In particular, Research asks users to install an Enterprise Developer Certificate and VPN, granting root access to a bulk of iPhone's transmitted data, the report says. As noted by TechCrunch, Apple's developer guidelines place restrictions on the Enterprise Developer Certificate, noting companies are to use the privilege only for internal apps distributed to employees.
Security expert Will Strafach, who was contracted to investigate Research, said the app could make use of the root privilege to collect data pertaining to "private messages in social media apps, chats from in instant messaging apps - including photos/videos sent to others, emails, web searches, web browsing activity, and even ongoing location information by tapping into the feeds of any location tracking apps you may have installed."
(Excerpt) Read more at appleinsider.com ...
Android also... (from 7 months ago...) https://steemit.com/scam/@vishalsingh4997/facebook-research-app-scam-alert-android-malware-stealing-your-data-794f4af48b6a
Zuckershit should be thrown in jail...
That’s evil.
And gang raped repeatedly.
Thanks BenLurkin and kingu.
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