Think again if you believed that your data on Threads is private.
All of the methods that Threads is following you and using your data are listed in the App Privacy section of the Threads App Store website. The list is very, very long, reader.
Thursday saw the launch of Threads, Meta’s answer to Twitter, and it appears that in its first seven hours of operation, it attracted more than 10 million users.
Click the “See Details” link in the App Privacy section of the App Store page for a comprehensive overview of the possible data collection and usage practices for Threads (opens in a new tab). But, the gist is this: Nearly all of your personal information is being gathered by Threads, including information about your transactions, finances, location, contact details, search history, and browsing habits.
Jack Dorsey, a co-founder of Twitter, became aware of this and tweeted about the Threads App Privacy section. Elon Musk, the company’s current owner, simply said, “Yeah.”
It doesn’t come as big surprise. The amount and breadth of data that Threads collects is similar to its sister app, Instagram(opens in a new tab) (both Threads and Instagram are owned by Meta, which also owns Facebook).
Twitter and other significant social media platforms gather user data as well in order to provide advertisements from outside businesses more effectively. A comparable, albeit slightly condensed, overview of all the ways in which Twitter uses the data of its users can be found on its App Privacy(opens in a new tab) page.
Even still, it’s upsetting to have to give a Twitter clone access to vast amounts of your personal information. Another Twitter competitor, Jack Dorsey’s BlueSky, which is now invite-only, claims to be looking into ways to make money without being as dependent on third parties as its rivals.
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Robert Haba is the founder and editor-in-chief of Droid Tools. A lifelong gadget enthusiast with over a decade following the Android ecosystem, he built this publication to cut through the noise and give readers honest, real-world coverage of the tech they actually use.
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