Apple, Facebook spat is over, for now-iOS certificate access restored
- by Isabel Sutton
- in Industry
- — Feb 3, 2019
Apple offers enterprise certificates to large companies like Google and Facebook for the goal of distributing apps internally, amongst the companys employees that facilitate their jobs.
While Facebook has been getting all the attention for its covert research app, it's not the only one doing it. Google also had similar experiences, thanks to its Screenwise Meter. A spokesman for Apple, Tom Neumayr, said it was working with Google to reinstate access "very quickly". Facebook was paying $20 a month to people between the ages of 13 and 35 in exchange for their phone and web activity.
Both firms use internal iOS apps to help employees access services such as travel.
In the meantime, the Screenwise Meter app is still alive and well at the Google Play store for Android users.
The row has been seen as a major escalation between Apple and its major rivals over protecting user data. The program is intended for companies to distribute in-house apps among employees, and by using it to deliver apps to the public, Facebook broke Apple's rules.
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Facebook's ranking as the best place to work in the United States takes a dive after 2018's scandals.
More news: Chicago Police Release ‘People of Interest’ Pictures in ‘Empire’ Actor’s Alleged AttackInternal apps like the Gbus transportation app and the company's cafe application have also been affected. It's unclear how this will impact that deal when renewal discussions begin.
According to TechCrunch, Google launched Screenwise in 2012.
While Facebook engineers could still write code and work on the iOS apps during the shutoff, their ability to test apps in the field was limited. "We've been upfront with users about the way we use their data in the app, we have no access to encrypted data in apps and on devices, and users can opt out of the program at any time".
What should we take away from this brouhaha? The latter was somewhat proactive, pulling the app itself before Apple could react.
Last year, Apple updated some of its privacy policies and forced Facebook to remove Onavo's app from its App Store. Worse, the company-wide food and shuttle apps also fell over leaving somewhere between one and 94,000 employees hungry and confused.
The divide between iOS and Android has never been more stark.
Many users don't value privacy highly. "Several employees in Facebook's hardware division said they were considering quitting because they could not get any work done". However, they had little expectation of privacy anyway, so they were willing to sell their data for a little money. It's now punishing Google, too. While Facebook is the world's biggest social network, Apple controls the distribution of apps - including Facebook's - on its phones. The company announced Thursday that that had happened.
