Tell Google: Block Facebook’s Child Surveillance App on Android

Google

A bombshell new report shows that Facebook has been paying people as young as 13 years old $20 gift cards to run an app that spies on their phones.

The app used to be called the Onavo VPN and was pulled from Apple’s App Store last year for being too invasive. Since then, Facebook secretly redesigned it and took advantage of a loophole to bypass the App Store’s rules so they could pay kids to download it.

When Apple got word of what Facebook had done, the company immediately closed the loophole and blocked Facebook from running its sketchy app.

Apple did the right thing—but it's clear Facebook isn't actually changing course. They are still pushing the surveillance app through Google's Play Store. But Google can stop this. They can stand up for users’ privacy by kicking “Facebook Research” out of their store.

Sign our petition to tell Google: “Stand up for users’ privacy and ban the ‘Facebook Research’ app from the Google Play Store.”

Now, we can’t pretend like Google is ultimate champion of user privacy. In fact, after the Facebook news broke another report showed that Google was be abusing the same App Store loophole—but the company did the right thing and announced it would end its iOS program after it was faced with public scrutiny.

Obviously their practices leave a lot to be desired. But the reality is that they have a huge amount of power to decide what goes in their Play Store. What Google decides to do here with Facebook’s spying app could have a huge ripple effect on our right to privacy across the industry. So please take a second to add your name.

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To: Google
From: [Your Name]

Stand up for users’ privacy. Ban the ‘Facebook Research’ app from the Google Play Store and pull your own Screenwise Meter surveillance app from the App Store.