Facebook has been accused of using its VPN service Onavo to access encrypted information about user interactions with Snapchat, in a bid to gain a competitive edge. Court documents have revealed that Meta, the current owner of Facebook, used Onavo to analyze market trends and spy on user data.
The use of Onavo for data analysis was previously reported by The Wall Street Journal in 2017. However, new documents from a court case have shed further light on the extent of Facebook’s data collection practices. Following the closure of Onavo in 2019, a lawsuit was filed against Facebook alleging deceptive practices and anti-competitive behavior.
The recently disclosed documents show that Facebook’s ‘Ghostbusters Project’ was aimed at gathering data on user interactions with rival apps like Snapchat, YouTube, and Amazon. By intercepting and analyzing encrypted traffic, Facebook sought to gain valuable insights into user behavior and market trends. The project utilized Onavo to implement a ‘man in the middle’ technique to spy on user data.
The court documents indicate that the ‘Ghostbusters Project’ was in operation between 2016 and 2019, highlighting the lengths to which Facebook went to gain a competitive advantage over its rivals. The revelation of these practices underscores the larger debate around tech companies’ use of user data and the potential impact on competition in the marketplace.
