From Wired, July 6:
Here’s what personal data is collected by Meta’s Threads, as well as by Twitter, Bluesky, Mastodon, Spill, and Hive Social.
Meta's long-awaited Twitter alternative is here, and it's called Threads. The new social media app launches at a time when alternatives, like Bluesky, Mastodon, and Spill, are vying for users who are dissatisfied with Elon Musk's handling of Twitter's user experience, with its newly introduced rate limits and an uptick in hate speech.
Meta owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, so the company’s attempt to recreate an online experience similar to Twitter is likely to attract plenty of normies, lurkers, and nomadic shitposters. Meta is working to incorporate Threads as part of the online Fediverse, a group of shared servers where users can interact across multiple platforms.
If you’re hesitant to share your personal data with a company on the receiving end of a billion dollar fine, that’s understandable. For those who are curious, however, here’s what we know about the service’s privacy policy, what data you hand over when you sign up, and how it compares to the data collected by other options.
Threads
Threads (Android, Apple) potentially collects a wide assortment of personal data that remains connected to you, based on the information available in Apple’s App Store, from your purchase history and physical address to your browsing history and health information. “Sensitive information” is also listed as a type of data collected by the Threads app. Some information this could include is your race, sexual orientation, pregnancy status, and religion as well as your biometric data.
Threads falls under the larger privacy policy covering Meta’s other social media platforms. Want to see the whole thing? You can read it for yourself here. There’s one caveat, though. The app has a supplemental privacy policy that’s also worth reading. A noteworthy detail from this document is that while you’re able to deactivate your Threads account whenever, you must delete your Instagram if you fully want to delete your Threads account.
Below is all the data collected by Threads that’s mentioned in the App Store. Do you have the Facebook or Instagram app on your phone? Keep in mind that this data collection by Meta is comparable to the data those apps collect about you.
For Android users, the Google Play Store doesn’t require you to hand over the same amount of extensive data to try out Threads. You have more control than Apple users, since you can granularly toggle what personal data is shared with apps.Data Linked to You...
....MUCH MORE
If, for some reason you feel some guilt about sharing your data with Twitter and Threads but not sending Google enough personal information, the GOOG does have a couple non-social media options:
1) 'Optical sensors' embedded in everyday objects could assess cardiovascular function and help users improve heart health" (GOOG)Well isn't this a dream come true:
NOT!
I am not putting cameras* behind the mirrors in the bathrooms, sorry.
Maybe behind the ones in the long hall....
*The only difference between a
camera and an 'optical sensor' is the wavelength in the electromagnetic
spectrum we're dealing with.
And sometimes there is no difference at all.
And from America's Finest News Service:
Google Offering Depression Test
“This should help remedy the current problem of Google not having nearly enough info about me.”
—Hannah Leibold • Lithium Wholesaler
“Thanks, but if I were actually interested in addressing my mental health problems I wouldn’t be spending so much time online.”
—Pete Winspear • Sidewalk Excavator
