Don't Download Threads: Meta Wants All the Data
Zuckerberg at it again
If you remember, a while back I wrote an article about the Tik Tok privacy policy. In that article I looked at the rather shocking collection of data by Bytedance, the parent company of Tik Tok. A few months later, Meta released a Twitter competitor (clone) called Threads. Although, in one way, the app is eerily similar to Twitter, it is also eerily similar to Tik Tok in that its privacy policy and the amount of data collected while using the app is atrocious.
Before you get defensive (again) and tell me how:
You don’t use it like other people. You never post stuff.
You don’t even have the app downloaded you just use a browser (wut).
That if I dared you to delete your account you would do it in a heartbeat cause you’re a sigma and live by the beat of your own drum.
You purposefully interact with content that YOU DON’T LIKE so that the algo doesn’t know the real you.
You use Threads solely for educational purposes (smh I have actually heard this one a lot).
Let’s dive into the fine print.
Item of Interest 1: The “Supplemental” Privacy Policy
Users may not be aware that Threads has its own additional "supplemental" privacy policy. Sketchy.
Item of Interest 2: The App Store Listing
Please, tell me that you see this visual and instantly cringe. By installing this app you are handing over (for free to Meta):
Health & Fitness
Purchases
Financial Info
Location
Contact Info
Contacts
User Content
Search History
Browsing History
Identifiers
Usage Data
Sensitive Info
Diagnostics
Other Data
In other words, an almost perfect digital persona or fingerprint that will be used in many scenarios by Meta and by third parties. Threads is collecting almost everything it can.
Item of Interest 3: “Device Information”
Meta claims that the device information collected includes:
The device and software being used. Vague.
What you're doing on the device, including whether Threads is in the foreground or if the user's mouse is moving (which allegedly helps to tell humans from bots).
Device identifiers (such as family IDs).
Signals from your device (such as Bluetooth, GPS, and nearby Wi-Fi access points).
Information shared via device settings (such as GPS location and camera access).
Network information, including IP addresses.
Location-related information (even if location sharing is turned off). This location-related information includes your IP address and your city of residence that you provide upon sign-up. Your current location is also recorded.
App performance information on your device.
My verdict. I will not be downloading threads and I would suggest that you think twice before doing so.
Cheers,
Joe