Threads, the emerging Twitter rival from Meta, has already attracted millions of users, not without raising eyebrows over its extensive data harvesting practices.
Unlike its sibling services like Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and Portal, Threads permits third-party services to access user data sans Meta’s strict oversight. This leaves users in a precarious position where they might lack knowledge about the destinations their data might end up at.
Meta’s overarching privacy policy, which covers all its products, highlights an exhaustive catalog of data it collects whenever you engage with its services.
It’s not just your public content that’s accessible to the company; they also gather data from your camera usage, unencrypted conversations sent and received, your interactions with advertisements and website content, the duration of your app usage, and even the granular details of your device such as battery life and signal strength.
Transaction-related information isn’t safe either, with Meta gathering your card details, billing and shipping information, contact details, purchase data, and a broad category of “other account and authentication information.” Despite disabling location services, Meta collects IP addresses to gauge your approximate location, a tactic not exclusive to Meta’s applications.
The app can delve into personal demographics, encompassing education status, ethnicity, pregnancy status, a range of health data, and a nebulous category termed “sensitive data,” which as per Apple’s interpretation of app privacy rules, might incorporate “religious or philosophical beliefs.” A cybersecurity expert from Drexel University, as reported by CBS, flagged concerns about personal privacy protection under these parameters.
Threads: The New Frontier in Meta’s Data Universe
Using Threads extends your participation in Meta’s data ecosystem.
What might escape users’ attention is Threads’ unique “supplementary” privacy policy. Alongside the stipulation that deletion of your Threads profile requires Instagram account removal, the policy mentions Threads’ collection of your profile details, in-app activities, and information regarding the individuals and communities you interact with.
Even beyond Meta’s product environment, Threads makes certain information available to the wider internet. Standard public identifiers on most social media platforms, like username, name, profile photo, and bio, are also public here. Moreover, Threads’ integration with various third-party services enables these entities to access portions of your data, such as posts, IP address, and online activity including comments or user interactions.
This third-party integration implies that Meta doesn’t control the information shared with external entities, and users are subject to the respective privacy practices of these parties. This lack of control can create uncertainty for users about which data will end up where on the internet.
While Threads does provide a mechanism to manage or delete information via Instagram settings, the control primarily lies in what profile details are made public, not what data the company ultimately amasses.
The Pros and Cons of Data Access
Access to data certainly has its advantages and disadvantages. On the positive side, personalization becomes a breeze with more data; services can tailor content, recommendations, and ads to individual preferences. Also, improved functionality and user experiences often result from these data insights.
On the downside, data access can raise substantial privacy concerns. Users may not always know who has access to their information and how it’s used, leading to potential misuse. Also, data breaches pose significant risks, with sensitive information potentially falling into the wrong hands. There’s an inherent trade-off between convenience and privacy that users must carefully consider when using apps like Threads.
