HasOffers, the fast-growing Seattle startup that helps companies manage affiliate advertising programs, has been removed from Facebook's mobile measurement program after it ran afoul of the social networking giant's privacy policies related to data collection. San Francisco-based mobile analytics company Kontagent also was booted.
We've requested a comment from Facebook and HasOffers on the situation, and we'll update this post as we learn more.
The removal could create havoc for the two companies, with AdExchanger reporting that they will "no longer be allowed to provide Facebook measurement or onboard new advertisers." The main issues centered around holding onto data too long, and failing to notify users of data collection.
In a lengthy blog post, Kontagent CEO Andy Yang explained how they ran afoul of the policies, including the issue of holding onto data.
"Storing the encrypted data beyond the required timeframe was an error on our part and could have been easily resolved had we been given the opportunity to remedy the situation," wrote Yang, adding that they are hopeful that they will get the chance to participate in the Facebook Mobile Measurement Program again.
Founded in 2009 by twin brothers Lee and Lucas Brown, HasOffers has been one of Seattle's fastest-growing startup companies. It raised $9.4 million in funding from Accel Partners, Founder's Co-op and RealNetworks founder Rob Glaser last May.
Dear MobileAppTracking Customers,On Tuesday, Facebook suddenly removed HasOffers and Kontagent from the Mobile Measurement Partner (MMP) program. Please know that this was completely unexpected or we would have created a plan to communicate this to you faster.
Thank you all for your outpouring of support, praise, feedback, and ideas over the past couple of days. Our team was fortunate to be a part of the creation, launch, and success of Facebook Mobile App Install Ads, and I am very proud of that.
I want to be clear that we did not violate any privacy regulations, and there was no data leakage or inappropriate data provided to advertisers. This has been confirmed by Facebook. We first disclosed all of our data storage and deletion processes with Facebook during an audit in September. We sought clarification on certain issues and offered solutions to allow our products to work within Facebook's terms. We believed we were working collaboratively with Facebook to comply with their requests. Regardless of their recent and sudden decision, we remain hopeful and open to working with Facebook in the future.
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