Apple blocked Facebook's Research VPN app from its store by removing the company's certificate and at the same time delivered a major public relations blow.
A TechCrunch investigation revealed that Facebook has been paying users to use an app called Facebook Research VPN that could collect all of a user's data. Even if the data collection is voluntary, it was done in a way that violated Apple's terms of service.
Apple issued a special certificate to Facebook that allowed its apps to integrate much more deeply into iOS. The certificate was supposed to be used only for internal app distribution within an organization, beta testing, and the like, but Facebook used it in an app available through the App Store.
After the revelations, Facebook said it removed the app from the App Store, but the truth was that Apple threw it out. What's even more interesting is that without Facebook's Enterprise Certificate, all of their apps, at least in the beta-testing phase, no longer work, and that includes Facebook and Instagram.
Apple was very clear about the whole situation. “We designed the Enterprise Developer Program solely for internal distribution of apps within an organization. Facebook has used parts of it to distribute a data-collecting app to consumers, which is a clear violation of their agreement with Apple. Any developer using their enterprise certificates to distribute apps to consumers will have their certificates revoked, which we did in this case to protect users and their data.”.
Facebook has been collecting market data for a long time, and their efforts have been stepped up since their acquisition of Onavo, a VPN. It's still unclear how far Apple will go on this issue. The main Facebook app is still working, but that could change in the coming days.
Just last week, court documents revealed that Facebook is tricking children into paying huge sums of money through third-party games. The blows keep coming for the company, and this latest clash with Apple is hitting them even harder.
The Google Play Store still has the “Facebook Research” app and there is no indication that the app violates any regulations, so at least for now it is still available.
