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Meta’s Threads app collects 50% more personal data than X: Report

Mark Zuckerberg’s new social media app, Threads, collects more personal information than you think, data suggests

twitter-threads
Image: The Guardian

Meta’s new social media platform Threads reportedly collects 50 percent more personal data than X, formerly known as Twitter, an expert told Arabian Business.

In a recent survey, cybersecurity firm Home Security Heroes found that both Threads and Instagram were the “worst social media platforms for protecting user privacy,” alleging that Meta’s ecosystem collects the most user data for advertising and marketing purposes, recording a whopping 86 percent of tracked personal information.

Following Instagram and Threads was Russian social media site VKontakte, Facebook and Messenger, Line, and X, respectively. However, image and video hosting site Flickr was found to be the safest social media app, with 0 percent data collected.

“X collects two fewer types of data than Threads,” said Home Security Heroes CEO, Brandon King.

Unlike X, Threads collects financial information, which could comprise payment card numbers, credit scores and salaries, and a list of contacts on the user’s phone from their Contacts app.

“By collecting these types of personal data, Threads and other 3rd parties can profit from advertising and marketing, giving users the impression that they are being monitored by targeted advertisements and illegal actors such as social engineering attacks or other forms of exploitation such as illegal data,” he explained.

What personal data does Threads collect?

Threads collects a total of 12 types of personal data, including Contact Information, Financial Information, Location, Contacts, Identifiers, Usage data, Browsing History, Search History, Purchases, Diagnostics, User Content and Other Data.

Home Security Heroes used 14 privacy labels on the App Store to determine which social media platforms tracked the most personal information about their users for marketing purposes. By doing so, they were able to determine how much personal information is monitored based on the number of privacy labels an app has out of the 14.

Other methods used included analysing how apps let users control their data, how secure the app is, and how easy it was for users to set their privacy settings.

King suggested that users be more selective with the information they share online, minimise location sharing, be cautious with public Wi-Fi networks, and review privacy settings regularly.

Meta launched the Twitter clone app on July 6 and managed to garner an impressive 100 million users within only five days, marking the most rapidly subscribed to application in social media history. However, the number of users seems to have stabilised at 125 million, according to the most recent estimates.

Though Meta launched the app in 100 countries, it is still not available in the EU due to regulatory concerns.

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Tala Michel Issa

Tala Michel Issa

Tala Michel Issa is the Chief Reporter at Arabian Business and Producer/Presenter of the AB Majlis podcast. Her interviews feature global figures including former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn, Mindvalley's...