Meta’s journey from a small analytics app acquisition to a tech giant making waves in the industry is a tale of intrigue and inspiration. The acquisition of Onavo a decade ago by Meta, then known as Facebook, proved to be a pivotal move that shaped the company’s product and business decisions. Guy Rosen and Roi Tiger, co-founders of Onavo, ascended to high-ranking positions within Meta, with Rosen currently serving as the chief information security officer and Tiger having held the position of vice president of engineering until his departure in 2022.
The unsealing of court documents last week in an ongoing lawsuit shed light on the significant role Onavo played in Meta’s strategic moves. Internal emails, private chats, and transcripts from depositions of top Meta executives, including Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg, Mike Schroepfer, Chris Cox, and Javier Olivan, revealed the extent to which Onavo influenced Meta’s decisions. Rosen’s mention of Onavo’s “core skill set” in reverse engineering of apps in a 2012 email highlighted the app’s capabilities that were leveraged by Meta.
One of the most notable revelations from the court documents was Meta’s attempt to replicate Snapchat’s success by creating a clone of the platform. While Meta has never openly acknowledged directly copying its competitor, the similarities between Snapchat’s Stories feature and Instagram’s version are striking. Despite the success of Stories on Instagram, Meta has been tight-lipped about the revenue generated by this popular feature.
The saga took a turn in 2019 when Meta removed Onavo from app stores amidst concerns of it being perceived as “spyware.” Reports surfaced linking Onavo to Meta’s data tracking efforts, particularly targeting users as young as 13. However, Onavo also offered users a tool to monitor their data usage, reflecting a dual nature that eventually led to its demise.
In a deposition last year, Javier Olivan, Meta’s current COO, emphasized the company’s prowess in market research, attributing unique capabilities and insights to Onavo. Despite the controversy surrounding Onavo, its legacy as a valuable asset in Meta’s decision-making process cannot be overlooked. The intertwined history of Meta and Onavo serves as a reminder of the complexities and ethical considerations that come with leveraging data for business growth and innovation.