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John,
In the rush to jump off the sinking ship of Elon Musk’s Twitter (er, that is, “X”), it’s reported that 100 million users picked up Meta’s new social media giant, “Threads,” within a few days of its launch.
Like Meta’s other social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram, Threads is ready and able to collect all kinds of private information about us from our phones -- and not just from our usage of the app. In fact, Instagram and Threads are now inseparable: existing Instagram accounts are automatically linked to Threads, and you cannot remove one from your phone without removing the other.
Threads is already hoovering up some of the most personal information from its 100 million Threaders. Does your phone pick up the number of steps you’ve taken today? How much weight you’ve gained or lost? Your heart rate? Meta knows too. Doing your banking online? Meta has your financial data. Your history of web searches? Meta’s got it.
And that’s not all. Threads is also passing along your GPS location, photos, Bluetooth devices, nearby cell towers and Wi-Fi networks to Meta’s central processors. Your employment history, friends lists, dating app contacts, and your sexual orientation are all fair game.
Threads’ business model is parasitic, consuming our private lives as its primary revenue generator. Click here to sign the petition and tell Meta to quit violating our privacy today!
It doesn’t have to be this way. In fact, the European Union is currently holding up the rollout of Threads specifically due to privacy concerns. The E.U. had previously ruled that data transfers between itself and the United States require an added layer of security preventing interception by third parties, including the U.S. government.
In May, the E.U. found Meta in violation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and imposed a record fine of 1.2 billion euros. The private information collected by Threads falls under a special protected category under the GDPR, and Threads will not be able to operate in the E.U. unless they scale back the data they collect in the region.
Similar concerns may spell trouble for Threads in the U.S., where a consent decree issued by the Federal Trade Commission in 2012 forbids Meta from using “unfair or deceptive” practices with regard to personal information. The courts may determine that Meta’s forced integration of Instagram and Threads constitutes an unfair loss of control over the privacy of the data for users of either service.
It’s time to stop Meta’s overreach into our personal lives! Sign the petition today to tell them to stop violating our privacy now.
Thank you for holding Meta accountable and urging privacy policies that protect rather than exploit their users.
- Amanda
Amanda Ford, Director
Democracy for America
Advocacy Fund
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