Meta’s highly anticipated Twitter alternative is here, and it’s called Threads. The new social media app launches at a time when alternatives such as Bluesky, Mastodon and Spill are vying for users dissatisfied with Elon Musk’s handling of Twitter’s user experience, with its newly introduced rate caps and an increase in hate speech.
Meta owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, so the company’s attempt to create an online experience similar to Twitter is likely to attract plenty of normies, lurkers, and nomadic shitposters. Meta is working to include 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 information with a company facing a billion-dollar fine, it’s understandable. For those curious, though, 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.
Wires
Threads (Android, Apple) may collect a wide variety of personal information that remains associated with you, based on the information available on 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 of the information this may include is your race, sexual orientation, pregnancy status, and religion, as well as your biometrics.
Threads is governed by the larger privacy policy governing Meta’s other social media platforms. Do you want to see the whole? You can read it for yourself here. However, there is one caveat. The app has an additional privacy policy that is also worth reading. One notable detail from this document is that while you can deactivate your Threads account at any time, if you want to completely delete your Threads account, you must delete your Instagram.
Below is all the data collected by Threads listed in the App Store. Do you have the Facebook or Instagram app on your phone? Please note that this data collection by Meta is similar 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 because you can fine-tune what personal data is shared with apps.
Information associated with you
Third Party Ads:
- Purchases (purchase history)
- Financial info (Other financial info)
- Location (precise location, coarse location)
- Contact information (physical address, email address, name, phone number, other user contact information)
- Contacts
- User Content (photos or videos, gameplay content, other user content)
- Search history
- Browsing history
- IDs (User ID, Device ID)
- Usage data (product interaction, advertising data, other usage data)
- Diagnostics (crash data, performance data, other diagnostic data)
- Other data
Developer advertising or marketing:
- Purchases (purchase history)
- Financial info (Other financial info)
- Location (precise location, coarse location)
- Contact information (physical address, email address, name, phone number, other user contact information)
- Contacts
- User Content (photos or videos, gameplay content, other user content)
- Search history
- Browsing history
- IDs (User ID, Device ID)
- Usage data (product interaction, advertising data, other usage data)
- Diagnostics (crash data, performance data, other diagnostic data)
- Other data
Analysis:
- Health & Fitness (Health, Fitness)
- Purchases (purchase history, financial information, payment information, other financial information)
- Location (precise location, coarse location)
- Contact information (physical address, email address, name, phone number, other user contact information)
- Contacts
- User Content (photos or videos, audio data, gameplay content, customer support, other user content)
- Search history
- Browsing history
- IDs (User ID, Device ID)
- Usage data (product interaction, advertising data, other usage data)
- Sensitive information
- 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 information (physical address, email address, name, phone number, other user contact information)
- Contacts
- User Content (photos or videos, gameplay content, other user content)
- Search history
- Browsing history
- IDs (User ID, Device ID)
- Usage data (product interaction, advertising data, other usage data)
- Sensitive information
- 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 information (physical address, email address, name, phone number, other user contact information)
- Contacts
- User Content (emails or text messages, photos or videos, audio data, gameplay content, customer support, other user content)
- Search history
- Browsing history
- IDs (User ID, Device ID)
- Usage data (product interaction, advertising data, other usage data)
- Sensitive information
- 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 information (physical address, email address, name, phone number, other user contact information)
- Contacts
- User Content (photos or videos, gameplay content, customer support, other user content)
- Search history
- Browsing history
- IDs (User ID, Device ID)
- Usage data (product interaction, advertising data, other usage data)
- Diagnostics (crash data, performance data, other diagnostic data)
- Other data
