Onavo controversies
Controversies tied to this brand in public sources. A listing is not a finding of fault.
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2023
Australian Federal Court Onavo penalty
The court ordered Meta’s owner to pay A$20 million after proceedings concerning alleged failures to explain that data collected through Onavo could be used for Facebook’s commercial purposes, plus legal costs.
2020
Australia sues Facebook over Onavo data use
Lawsuit filed
In December 2020, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission sued Facebook over its use of the Onavo Protect app. The regulator alleged that Facebook misled Australian consumers about collecting and using their personal activity data for commercial purposes. Facebook said it would review the filing and continue to defend its position. The dispute centered on how the Onavo Protect app's data practices were presented to consumers in Australia.
Australia’s Competition and Consumer Commission sued Facebook over its use of the Onavo Protect app, alleging that Facebook misled Australian consumers about collecting and using their personal activity data for commercial purposes. Facebook said it would review the filing and continue to defend its position.
Company response
Denial — Facebook
“When people downloaded Onavo Protect, we were always clear about the information we collect and how it is used.”
Source excerpt
The ACCC’s case accuses Facebook of false, misleading or deceptive conduct toward thousands of Australian consumers, after it had promoted the Onavo Protect app — saying it would keep users personal activity data private, protected and secret and not use it for any other purpose, when it was being used to gather data to help Facebook’s business.
“When people downloaded Onavo Protect, we were always clear about the information we collect and how it is used.”
Yet more trouble brewing for Facebook: Australia’s Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is suing the tech giant over its use, in 2016 and 2017, of the Onavo VPN app to spy on users for commercial purposes.
2019
Facebook Research and Project Atlas controversy
A market-research program associated with techniques similar to Onavo reportedly collected extensive device and usage information from participants, including some teenagers. The controversy led to Apple’s revocation of Facebook’s enterprise certificates and intensified scrutiny of Onavo.
2018
Privacy criticism over Onavo Protect
Privacy advocates and media organizations criticized Onavo Protect as spyware-like because its VPN architecture enabled analysis of application and website usage within a product marketed around privacy and security.