What's happened
Meta's acquisition of Onavo in 2013 paved the way for a secret project, 'Ghostbusters,' aimed at accessing encrypted data from Snapchat. Mark Zuckerberg's directive to obtain this data in 2016 has now been revealed through unsealed court documents, shedding light on Meta's competitive strategies.
Why it matters
The revelation of Meta's secret project to obtain encrypted data from Snapchat highlights the company's aggressive tactics in the social media market. This raises concerns about user privacy, data security, and anticompetitive behavior, impacting Meta's reputation and potentially leading to regulatory scrutiny.
What the papers say
Business Insider UK reports on the unsealed court documents revealing Mark Zuckerberg's directive to obtain encrypted data from Snapchat, shedding light on Meta's competitive strategies. The Independent provides insights into the 'Project Ghostbusters' initiated by Zuckerberg to access encrypted Snapchat data, showcasing Meta's aggressive tactics in the social media market.
How we got here
Meta's acquisition of Onavo in 2013 provided the foundation for the company to analyze user data from various apps, including Snapchat. The directive from Mark Zuckerberg in 2016 to obtain encrypted data from Snapchat reflects Meta's competitive approach to stay ahead in the social media industry, especially amidst rising competition from platforms like Snapchat.
Common question
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Mark Elliot Zuckerberg is an American media magnate, internet entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is known for co-founding Facebook, Inc. and serves as its chairman, chief executive officer, and controlling shareholder.
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Snapchat is an American multimedia messaging app developed by Snap Inc., originally Snapchat Inc. One of the principal features of Snapchat is that pictures and messages are usually only available for a short time before they become inaccessible to their
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Facebook is an American online social media and social networking service based in Menlo Park, California and a flagship service of the namesake company Facebook, Inc.
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Onavo was an Israeli mobile web analytics company owned by Facebook, Inc. The company primarily performed its activities via consumer mobile apps, including the virtual private network service Onavo Protect, which analysed web traffic sent through the VPN