ALBAWABA –Meta’s Threads collects more personal data than Elon Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter, an expert told Arabian Business.
It reportedly collects 50 percent more personal data, he said.
In a recent survey, Home Security Heroes, a ZoomInfo cybersecurity subsidiary, found that both Threads and Instagram were the “worst social media platforms for protecting user privacy”.
According to the company’s report, Meta’s ecosystem collects the most user data for advertising and marketing purposes. The platform collects a whopping 86 percent of tracked personal information.
Second to Instagram and Threads was Russian social media site VKontakte and Facebook, along with Facebook Messenger. Line and X followed, respectively, collecting less personal data than Meta’s Threads app and Instagram.
Notably, images and video hosting site Flickr was ranked the safest social media app, with zero percent data collected.
Elon Musk bought Twitter last year and then rebranded it as X - Shutterstock
“X collects two fewer types of data than Threads,” Home Security Heroes CEO, Brandon King, told Arabian Business.
Meta’s Threads collects more personal data than X, but what data exactly?
Meta’s 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.
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, Arabian Business reported.
Notably, Meta has been under pressure by the European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, to adjust its privacy and data collection policies.
the app in 100 countries, it is still not available in the EU due to regulatory concerns.
