This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
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."
Damn, just straight up stealing other people's content. Very cool
Original post: https://writing.exchange/@kreig/110664764474921792
Original poster: https://writing.exchange/@kreig
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.
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.
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.
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/
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
That's your fault for using threads
You got a good point. I minimized my usege of Facebook to the ~~minimum~~ maximum.
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/
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.
What I don't understand is why people wound even want to use this app...
What possible appeal could it have?
Using Threads knowing it's a product of Zuck, is like voting for Trump in 2024 cause he wore a different style suit.
"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.
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.
If you are already eating out of a dumpster, even the worst fast food looks appetizing.
Shit, did your phone extend a needle for a blood test?
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.
Jesus, man! Do they want my birth certificate as well?
Only if you are running for president
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.
There's a reason it's not allowed in the EU.
This is what I got after 5 minutes.
I understand getting location because the big companies have country specific websites that have different pricing and products but why boot time?
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.
my guess is so google can use this data for analytics for their operating system since it collects OS version too
How do I get duckduckgo to block tracking attempts?
Okay I think I have it. I just installed the duckduckgo app and enabled the tracking protection in settings. And right now I am shocked. The amount of tracking attempts in the last 30 minutes has been mind boggling. 300 attempts and counting! Is this normal?
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?
I'm so tired can you re explain what you trying to say
Post complaining about Meta collecting too much data from its users but Tiktok which has much more users than Threads and almost the same as FB doesnt get the same amount of complains, and when it does people shrugged off saying "at least is not owned by an US company" implying some would rather give their data to a chinese company.
We need a third party app.
Ain’t gonna happen. This is the only reason they are releasing Threads. It is also the only reason Elon and u/spez have killed third party apps.
It is also why you can’t use Threads in a browser. (You can read other threads, but can’t post or use any of the other features.
Thank you EU!
Why in the first place do you want to use that garbage?
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
They clicked "select all" when choosing what to gather, it's easier.
"They trust me" "Dumb fucks"
Disgusting
A lot of that stuff is pretty standard if you're doing logging and metrics on your service (which you should if you want to resolve outages). From the IP address and user agent you get rough location, os info, and network info. A few other things can be used for optimization (faster load times), and a Meta-scale, I wouldn't be surprised if they do that.
I don't care if this app becomes the new norm, I ain't risking all that metadata. Fuck Facebook
