Avoid Threads if you value your privacy

The arrival of Threads this week saw Meta taking another step into the social arena with its Twitter clone. There have been lots of entirely understandable concerns voiced about Twitter recently, particularly in light of the chaotic impact of Elon Musk, and this has led to swathes of disgruntled and worried users switching allegiances and joining the likes of Bluesky, Mastodon and, now, Threads.

Whether jumping ship, leaving Twitter and signing up for Threads makes sense very much depends on your reason for doing so. If privacy is your main concern, for instance, there is little -- if anything -- to be gained. Coming from the same stables as Facebook, the fact that Threads sucks up personal data should surprise no one, but the sheer volume and range of what it collects is slightly breath-taking.

See also:

• Meta faces criticism for poor accessibility features in Threads
• Jump on the Threads beta program to get access to new features faster
• Microsoft Edge now blocks spam notifications on the sites you visit

Facebook users are familiar with the idea of data collection, having become used to the idea over the years -- or just turning a blind eye to the practice. But Facebook has age on its side. When the social platform first appeared, data collection was on a smaller scale, and most users gave it little thought anyway. Now times have changed; people are now more aware of the value companies place on their personal data and there is much greater interest from more internet users about limiting -- or at least being aware of -- what data is collected.

Whether Meta likes it or not, Threads is launched into a very different environment to Facebook. The way it operates, the data it collects, and much more, is under far greater scrutiny. Just as many individuals have, Wired has scrutinized the privacy policies that reveal Threads' data collection, and the list of what is gathered is... well... it is lengthy, to say the least.

In an in-depth analysis of the data collection practices of Twitter and its rivals, Wired shares the following slightly terrifying list of what Threads gathers about users:

Third-Party Advertising:

• Purchases (Purchase History)
• Financial Info (Other Financial Info)
• Location (Precise Location, Coarse Location)
• Contact Info (Physical Address, Email Address, Name, Phone Number, Other User Contact Info)
• Contacts
• User Content (Photos or Videos, Gameplay Content, Other User Content)
• Search History
• Browsing History
• Identifiers (User ID, Device ID)
• Usage Data (Product Interaction, Advertising Data, Other Usage Data)
• Diagnostics (Crash Data, Performance Data, Other Diagnostic Data)
• Other Data

Developer's Advertising or Marketing:

• Purchases (Purchase History)
• Financial Info (Other Financial Info)
• Location (Precise Location, Coarse Location)
• Contact Info (Physical Address, Email Address, Name, Phone Number, Other User Contact Info)
• Contacts
• User Content ( Photos or Videos, Gameplay Content, Other User Content)
• Search History
• Browsing History
• Identifiers (User ID, Device ID)
• Usage Data (Product Interaction, Advertising Data, Other Usage Data)
• Diagnostics (Crash Data, Performance Data, Other Diagnostic Data)
• Other Data

Analytics:

• Health & Fitness (Health, Fitness)
• Purchases (Purchase History, Financial Info, Payment Info, Other Financial Info)
• Location (Precise Location, Coarse Location)
• Contact Info (Physical Address, Email Address, Name, Phone Number, Other User Contact Info)
• Contacts
• User Content (Photos or Videos, Audio Data, Gameplay Content, Customer Support, Other User Content)
• Search History
• Browsing History
• Identifiers (User ID, Device ID)
• Usage Data (Product Interaction, Advertising Data, Other Usage Data)
• Sensitive Info
• Diagnostics (Crash Data, Performance Data, Other Diagnostic Data)
• Other Data

Product Personalization:

• Purchases (Purchase History)
• Financial Info (Other Financial Info)
• Location (Precise Location, Coarse Location)
• Contact Info (Physical Address, Email Address, Name, Phone Number, Other User Contact Info)
• Contacts
• User Content (Photos or Videos, Gameplay Content, Other User Content)
• Search History
• Browsing History
• Identifiers (User ID, Device ID)
• Usage Data (Product Interaction, Advertising Data, Other Usage Data)
• Sensitive Info
• Diagnostics (Crash Data, Performance Data, Other Diagnostic Data)
• Other Data

App Functionality:

• Health & Fitness (Health, Fitness)
• Purchases (Purchase History)
• Financial Info (Payment Info, Credit Info, Other Financial Info)
• Location (Precise Location, Coarse Location)
• Contact Info (Physical Address, Email Address, Name, Phone Number, Other User Contact Info)
• Contacts
• User Content (Emails or Text Messages, Photos or Videos, Audio Data, Gameplay Content, Customer Support, Other User Content)
• Search History
• Browsing History
• Identifiers (User ID, Device ID)
• Usage Data (Product Interaction, Advertising Data, Other Usage Data)
• Sensitive Info
• Diagnostics (Crash Data, Performance Data, Other Diagnostic Data)
• Other Data

Other Purposes:

• Purchases (Purchase History)
• Financial Info (Other Financial Info)
• Location (Precise Location, Coarse Location)
• Contact Info (Physical Address, Email Address, Name, Phone Number, Other User Contact Info)
• Contacts
• User Content (Photos or Videos, Gameplay Content, Customer Support, Other User Content)
• Search History
• Browsing History
• Identifiers (User ID, Device ID)
• Usage Data (Product Interaction, Advertising Data, Other Usage Data)
• Diagnostics (Crash Data, Performance Data, Other Diagnostic Data)
• Other Data

Meta is quite open about its data collection, revealing all of the above in the App Store and Google Play listings. But, as Wired points out, Android users get a slightly better deal:

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.

For full details of data collection direct from the company doing the collecting, it is worth tajkni9g a look at the Meta Privacy Policy as well as the Threads Supplemental Privacy Policy.

Compare this to Bluesky. This app gathers just email addresses, posted content, user IDs, and app diagnostic data. Mastodon collects, because of the way it works, nothing.

Quite what all of this means for the future when Threads is joining the Fediverse remains to be seen. There is already a great deal of concern on Mastodon about how the arrival of Meta and the implications for the much more privacy-centric platform.

Image credit: rafapress / depositphotos