Threads, the so-called rival app to Twitter launched on Thursday 6th July 2023 officially to the public. The app born from Instagram is a text-based social network platform where people can publish written posts almost 500 characters long, or videos and other media, like, comment and share those posts, pretty much like Twitter.
Since it’s attached to Instagram, people can log in directly from their Insta account, keep the same user name, and transfer follow list from Instagram.
Already in under a day of its launch, Threads has already collected over 30 million signups according to reports. This was probably helped by the erratic operation of the Twitter app ever since it was acquired by Elon Musk and the growing dislike of users there.
However, Threads is not without its own set of problems, here we take a look at some of them.
1. Can’t Delete Account Data With Deleting Instagram Account
As per reports, you cannot delete your Threads account data without deleting your Instagram account itself. The platform’s FAQ page states that “You can always delete individual posts. To delete your Threads profile and data, you’ll need to delete your Instagram account.”
Given that one’s Threads account is directly linked with their Instagram account, which is what allows people to easily log in, transfer their profile information, following list and more, it makes sense but can be a privacy concern for us.
So while you can delete individual posts and even deactivate your Thread account entirely, you cannot delete your account data without it affecting your Instagram account itself.
2. Collects More Personal Information Than Twitter
Just from Instagram itself, Meta’s Threads collect the following information:
- Instagram login information
- Instagram account ID
- Instagram name and username
- Instagram profile information such as your profile picture, bio and links
- Instagram followers
- Accounts you follow on Instagram
- Your age on Instagram
- Your Instagram account status relating to intellectual property violations and instances of going against Instagram’s Community Guidelines.
The Threads’ App Store page lists all the data the app collects from users in the App Privacy section. The concerning thing here though is that the list seems to be longer than even Twitter with Threads gathering user data from 25 different categories along with sensitive and financial information.
Some of these include:
- app usage,
- installed applications,
- in-app search history,
- web browsing activities,
- calendar events,
- contacts,
- voice or sound recordings,
- music files,
- different audio files,
- photos, videos,
- SMS messages,
- in-app communications,
- emails,
- payment card information,
- bank account details,
- financial data
- biometric data,
- sexual orientation,
- ethnic information
- location data
A lot of this data though is not exclusive to just Threads though, since practically every app these days collects some of most the above data from its users or requires their permission to be collected in order for optimum usage.
Read More: Earth Might Be Left Without Internet For Few Months Thanks To This Phenomenon
3. Instagram/FB Being Linked
Many people have also complained that the requirement for an Instagram or IG account for a Threads account is not something they like.
Some do not want the cross connection of their real connections with those of their online ones or want to keep a separation between personal and public online personalities, which they feel would not be possible if their Threads account is connected with their IG one.
4. No Website
Some people have raised issues with the app being available on only Android and iOS and there not being any website version of it. Currently, all social media platforms have apps and a website so desktop users can operate their accounts from it.
However, Threads does not have a usable website version where people can access the platform or their accounts from.
5. App Keeps Crashing
Some users have also raised an issue that the app keeps crashing, however, that could also be due to the heavy traffic that the app is seeing right after its launch, making it difficult to load.
Image Credits: Google Images
Feature Image designed by Saudamini Seth
Sources: CNBC, Firstpost, Business Standard
Find the blogger: @chirali_08
This post is tagged under: meta, threads, threads app, threads meta, threads twitter, internet user data, Threads app meta, Threads app website, Threads app launch, Threads app problems, Threads app data collection, Threads app account, Threads app instagram
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