Apple revokes Facebook’s enterprise developer certificates

AppleInsider reports that Apple has stopped Facebook from being able to use its internal apps by revoking its enterprise developer certificates following reports that the social network ignored guidelines relating to user privacy by distributing apps outside the app store. Plus it paid users to install the spyware.

In a note to AppleInsider, Apple had this to say: “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.”

Yesterday TechCrunch reported that Facebook has been secretly paying people to install a “Facebook Research” VPN that lets the company suck in all of a user’s phone and web activity. The social network sidesteps the App Store and rewards teenagers and adults to download the Research app and give it root access to network traffic in a violation of Apple policy. Facebook wants to decrypt and analyze phone activity, a TechCrunch investigation confirms.

The social network admitted to TechCrunch it was running the Research program to gather data on usage habits.

Since 2016, Facebook has been paying users ages 13 to 35 up to $20 per month plus referral fees to sell their privacy by installing the iOS or Android “Facebook Research” app, the article adds. Facebook says it will shut down the iOS version of its Research app. But apparently not the Android version.

Images accompanying this article are courtesy of Mark Schaefr and Steemit