Facebook Secretly Pays Users for Total Phone Access in Project Atlas
Facebook pays users up to $20 a month to install a research app that collects all phone and web activity, bypassing App Store rules. Apple immediately revokes Facebook's enterprise certificate for the clear policy violation.
Facebook desperately seeks data on its competitors through a secret program called Project Atlas. The social network pays users between the ages of 13 and 35 up to $20 per month to install a "Facebook Research" app that acts as a VPN to suck in all of their phone and web activity. Facebook even asks participants to screenshot their Amazon order history pages to gather deeper insights into consumer habits.
To avoid another App Store ban like the one that struck its similar Onavo Protect app, Facebook distributes this research app through sideloading and enterprise developer certificates. The company uses beta testing services like Applause, BetaBound, and uTest to hide its involvement while it asks users to grant root access to their network traffic. This allows Facebook to decrypt and analyze everything a user does on their mobile device.
Apple responds swiftly to these revelations by revoking Facebook's enterprise certificates, stating that the program is strictly for internal app distribution, not consumer data collection. While Facebook initially claims it voluntarily shuts down the iOS version of the app, Apple confirms it blocks the software first due to a clear breach of agreement. The controversial data collection program continues to run on Android devices despite the immediate iOS shutdown.