this post was submitted on 06 Jul 2023
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In the few short hours since I started using #Threads, #DuckDuckGo has already blocked over 200 data tracking attempts. These include things like "headphone status" and "screen density."

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[–] [email protected] 31 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Damn, just straight up stealing other people's content. Very cool

Original post: https://writing.exchange/@kreig/110664764474921792

Original poster: https://writing.exchange/@kreig

[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 year ago (11 children)

I started using #Threads

Ah, I see, there's the problem.

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[–] [email protected] 29 points 1 year ago (2 children)

It’s unbelievable that an app which collect this many data points, including voice, is legally allowed. Insane. Yes, people should not use it and should care, but come on… this is just mass surveillance and collection.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

Well, that's how Cambridge Analytica scandal happened

Ross Schulman, senior fellow for decentralization at digital rights nonprofit the Electronic Frontier Foundation, notes that if Threads emerges as a massive player in the fediverse, there could be concerns about what he calls “social graph slurping." Meta will know who all of its users interact with and follow within Threads, and it will also be able to see who its users follow in the broader fediverse. And if Threads builds up anywhere near the reach of other Meta platforms, just this little slice of life would give the company a fairly expansive view of interactions beyond its borders.

https://www.wired.com/story/meta-threads-privacy-decentralization/

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

including voice

how else would facebook live and such work?

i mean some of these makes sense

but its also a question of ... does the app use all these things, all the time?

do we know?

On my mac i have to allow discord to record my voice etc. if i dont, i can still use the app but i cant talk in a voice call, and such.

i'd like if apps did similar, on phones. they'd work but some functions would just be unavailable

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

i'd like if apps did similar, on phones. they'd work but some functions would just be unavailable

Both Android and iPhones let you do this last I checked

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (2 children)
  • The name of your first crush.
  • Your religious beliefs.
  • Your innermost fears.
  • That thing you did in June of 2007 that you must never speak about.
[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You just reminded me of the random surveys that used to sometimes come in the mail for my Mum back before the internet was a thing. I flipped through a couple and it asked things like if you have a pet and what brand of cat food you gave them and all this totally random shit. I wonder what benefit to the home owner there was for filling such a bullshit survey in.

These days, Facebook would probably just use some AI to scan your photos and figure out if you have a cat and what brand of food it eats. You'd never know, and you gave away any defence the moment you uploaded the image.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I've recently started taking a lot of international flights for work.

Now the ad algorithms thinks I'm some international jet setter and I get ads for luxury boats.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Hey shut up about the spaghetti incident shut up

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Jesus, man! Do they want my birth certificate as well?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

Only if you are running for president

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

Shit, did your phone extend a needle for a blood test?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (4 children)

That's your fault for using threads

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

Meta is a threat to the privacy of fediverse users, if there are fediverse instances that remain federated with Meta.

Ross Schulman, senior fellow for decentralization at digital rights nonprofit the Electronic Frontier Foundation, notes that if Threads emerges as a massive player in the fediverse, there could be concerns about what he calls “social graph slurping." Meta will know who all of its users interact with and follow within Threads, and it will also be able to see who its users follow in the broader fediverse. And if Threads builds up anywhere near the reach of other Meta platforms, just this little slice of life would give the company a fairly expansive view of interactions beyond its borders.

https://www.wired.com/story/meta-threads-privacy-decentralization/

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (16 children)

What I don't understand is why people wound even want to use this app...

What possible appeal could it have?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Using Threads knowing it's a product of Zuck, is like voting for Trump in 2024 cause he wore a different style suit.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

"Okay so it's basically Twitter, but with like... Facebook features..." Is literally a joke I have made about annoying app ideas people have when you tell them you're a software developer.

I have made this joke a few times, because it killed every time.

I'm stunned. Out of material, and stunned.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Had a dude tell me he wanted to 'disrupt' social media by creating a LinkedIn alternative that allowed posting videos.

He just needed a couple 'techies' like me to get it off the ground.

Haven't heard from him in a while. I hope rehab worked out for him.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Even if you don't have Threads app installed. Meta is still a privacy threat for fediverse users. If there are fediverse instances that remain federated with Meta. And there are already millions of people who joined Threads in just a day.

Ross Schulman, senior fellow for decentralization at digital rights nonprofit the Electronic Frontier Foundation, notes that if Threads emerges as a massive player in the fediverse, there could be concerns about what he calls “social graph slurping." Meta will know who all of its users interact with and follow within Threads, and it will also be able to see who its users follow in the broader fediverse. And if Threads builds up anywhere near the reach of other Meta platforms, just this little slice of life would give the company a fairly expansive view of interactions beyond its borders.

https://www.wired.com/story/meta-threads-privacy-decentralization/

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

There's a reason it's not allowed in the EU.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

If you block them from collecting even one of those things, they'll lock you out of your account until you show them your ID and SSN. It should be illegal for social media to spy on you THAT invasively.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

Looking at the data collection categories in the ios app store for Threads is terrifying. Similarly, mastodon collects nothing. General population doesn't seem to care though given the number of signups that Threads has received in the last few days. People are happy to give their information away.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

"They trust me" "Dumb fucks"

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Orientation? Why would Facebook need to know if my phone is gay? Jk, I know they really want to know my phone's political orientation. Joke's on them, my phone voted for Megatron.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (4 children)

This is what I got after 5 minutes.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I understand getting location because the big companies have country specific websites that have different pricing and products but why boot time?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

If they collect enough metrics and link it to a single user they can use that as an id to tell if that user does things outside of their app. So they collect all the data and build a device finger print then they offer tools to website developers for marketing (Facebook tracking pixel, like buttons, etc ...). Those developer or marketing teams or whoever add it into the other apps you use and Facebook can track you without you being logged in.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Youtube has done it now. The internet fighting is on. Truly not able to see Youtube now with blockers.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

ReVanced is still working.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I don't care if this app becomes the new norm, I ain't risking all that metadata. Fuck Facebook

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Why did you download threads in the first place? Just scanned the app in exodus and the list of trackers is worse than all meta apps combined

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (6 children)

People here complaining about Threads and TikTok (Chinese owned) being the defacto social network for an entire generation over there without outrage, and when it's outrage about it people just say "at least is not the US" what kind of defense is that?

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Why in the first place do you want to use that garbage?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

That tracks about everything it possibly can just for the sake of it. I despise Meta so much...

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