Days after it launched Threads, Meta's competitor to Twitter, boomed with 100 million users. The app from Meta claims it is the most rapidly downloaded app ever. This fits with the general trend of new social media platforms to be good to users (and therefore popular) at firsts, and then to gradually become more corporate, fascist, and oppressive over time.
Threads' rapid rise and ease of adoption also means that some privacy concerns have seemingly been overlooked. Just how much data and information does the app collect? Turns out, it's a lot.
Just like its other platforms, Instagram and Facebook, Threads can and will collect a lot of data on its users. That can include sensitive information such as health and fitness data, financial information, and location and browsing history — just to name a few. And according to Thread's privacy policy, it also has access to GPS location, cameras, photos, IP information, Bluetooth signals, nearby Wi-Fi access points, and cell towers.
That information gives law enforcement a particular power of activists and organizers. Here in the US, Meta has already helped police find, arrest, and sentence a Nebraska teen and her mom for up to 5 years for using safe and FDA- approved medication abortion pills. In the UK, Australia, and France, Meta has worked with fossil fueled fascists to break up actions, enhance convictions against peaceful protestors, and more.
With Meta on the rise again in users and in political power, and with the risk to climate protestors and activists greater than ever, this is a critical moment to speak up. Sign now to Tell Meta to Stop Violating Our Privacy.
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Drew and the 198 methods to fight climate denial & spyware crew