History
Onavo was founded in 2010 by Roi Tiger and Guy Rosen.[2] Onavo won multiple awards in 2011. The company received first prize at the Mobile Beat 2011 conference hosted by VentureBeat,[3] and the award for most innovative app at the 2011 International Startup Festival, as well as being selected as the "Best Mobile Startup" by The Next Web.[4][5]
Onavo had two rounds of funding: the first was a Series A investment for $3 million from Magma Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital in May 2011.[6] The second was a Series B investment of $13 million from Magma Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Horizons Ventures. Onavo's sale to Facebook is one of the top exits for Magma Venture Partners and other Israeli venture capital firms.[7]
On October 13, 2013, Facebook bought Onavo for approximately $120 million.[8][9]
In March 2014, Adi Soffer Teeni was appointed CEO of Facebook Israel.
In an email dated June 9, 2016, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg directed engineers at his company to find a method of obtaining "reliable analytics" about Snapchat, which he noted that Facebook lacked due to Snapchat's network traffic being encrypted.[10] The solution Facebook engineers proposed to Zuckerberg's directive was to use Onavo, which allowed the company to read network traffic on a device prior to its being encrypted, thereby giving the company the ability "to measure detailed in-app activity" and to collect analytics on Snapchat app usage from devices on which Onavo was installed.[10] It did this by creating "fake digital certificates to impersonate trusted Snapchat, YouTube, and Amazon analytics servers to redirect and decrypt secure traffic from those apps for Facebook’s strategic analysis."[11] The program, which was named "Project Ghostbusters" in reference to Snapchat's ghost-shaped logo, was later expanded to include Amazon and YouTube.[10]
In February 2018, it was reported that Facebook had begun to include advertising for the Onavo Protect app within the Facebook app for iOS users in the United States. This led to denouncements of the app by media outlets, who classified Onavo as spyware because it is used by Facebook to monetize usage habits within a privacy-focused environment, and because the app listing did not contain a prominent disclosure of Facebook's ownership.[12][13] The app's listings were later amended to disclaim that Onavo Protect may collect information on app and website usage to improve Facebook products and services.[14][15]
In August 2018, Facebook pulled Onavo Protect from the iOS App Store after pressure by Apple, who declared it a violation of guidelines barring apps from harvesting data from other apps on a user's device.
On February 21, 2019, in the wake of renewed controversy over the service due to the related Facebook Research program, Facebook announced that it would sunset Onavo Protect VPN and pull its app from Google Play Store. Effective immediately, the service ceased collecting personal data.[22]
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) initiated legal proceedings against Facebook on December 16, 2020, alleging that Facebook engaged in "false, misleading or deceptive conduct" by using personal data collected from Onavo "for its own commercial purposes" contrary to Onavo's privacy-oriented marketing. Facebook responded that it was "always clear about the information we collect and how it is used", and would defend itself in court.[23][24] In July 2023 Australia's Federal Court ordered Facebook's owner to pay A$20 million for failing to disclose how Onavo would be used to collect data, as well as A$400,000 to cover the ACCC's legal fees.[25]
In 2016, Jordana Cutler, who had previously served as the director of Ambassador Ron Dermer's office and as an advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was appointed as Public Policy Director for Facebook Israel.[26] In September 2016, Israel's Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked and Minister of Internal Security Gilad Erdan introduced a bill aimed at curbing online incitement and hate speech, imposing restrictions on the dissemination of illegal and offensive content on the Internet and social media platforms. Dubbed the "Facebook Law" by the media, the proposal garnered widespread support within the government. Between 2016 and 2018, it passed through various stages of approval: first gaining endorsement from the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, then advancing through preliminary and first readings in the Knesset Plenum, making it eligible for consideration in the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee. In July 2018, the committee greenlit the bill for its second and third readings, setting the stage for final ratification by the Knesset plenary. However, at the eleventh hour, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unexpectedly intervened to halt the process.[27] In response, Nissan Slomiansky, chairman of the Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee, asserted that the sudden reversal was prompted by pressure from "large forces" with vested interests.[28] Media reports speculated that Jordana Cutler, Netanyahu's former advisor who serves as Facebook's Public Policy Director in Israel, played a pivotal role in influencing the Prime Minister's decision to block the legislation.
