Sned
Stefano MarinelliI read that #Meta has launched #Threads and many don't understand why it's not fully usable via the web but only through a dedicated mobile app. Meta isn't interested in letting us talk but rather in collecting as much data as possible. Browsers have become (more) skilled at protecting us, while apps can have almost complete access to our mobile devices, gathering data that an average person couldn't even imagine. And our mobile devices have become the safe (or should I say, the exposed pantry?) of our lives. #privacy #datacollection #SocialNetworks
Skylar Caulfield 
@stefano @LilahTovMoon depends sandboxing on iOS is pretty wild! Android has profiles + sandboxing to restrict what apps can do and see
Bruce@skymtf @stefano @LilahTovMoon
So, it may be okay for an Android device, meaning I must buy such a device and be really careful. No, thank you. I can silo stuff pretty easily on a desktop, so it's either desktop accessible or it's not accessible to me.
Emily (Alpha Male)@stefano I would suspect that, considering the short 6 month timeline of development, the mobile focus is just a prioritization of resources. From my experience working with both Android and the Web, I can’t imagine the stock, no-permissions-granted app experience to be that much worse for privacy than a website.
That’s not to say I like or agree with Meta’s collection or use of data, but I just think it is more plausible that the team decided to focus their resources on mobile.
Dawn Tåke 🌙 
@stefano
I've recently become a convert to Progressive Web Applications. They're somewhere between the website and the app and run off a web browser. Less permissions possible, and it can be filter through extensions like uBlock Origin.
Threads I assume doesn't have it, but Facebook, Tumblr, YouTube, etc. do.
I just really learned about these things, so I'm posting it everywhere so other can. I apologize if you're already well versed in them. 
Ned YeungIndeed. The Mastodon app collects no data and uses the same ActivityPub, yet the Threads app collects a whole lot. This doesn't affect others on the Fediverse but people need to be smart and pick a better instance. Threads offers users nothing that a ton of other instances don't already offer with no bullshit attached.
I only access my instance through the website. I don't believe in installing apps to access something that an existing browser app can easily serve to me on a webpage.
Joel Abrams 🫖
ladyteruki@BostonAbrams @stefano : if a Mastodon user wants to interact with someone on Threads, once federated this gives Meta access to the data of the Mastodon user during that interaction, no ?
...Meta has already access to the Instagram data. It wants more.
...Meta has already access to the Instagram data. It wants more.
@ladyteruki @stefano That is my understanding. But the amount of data in the Fediverse is trivial compared to the amount of data Meta has from Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp. It's like adding a cup of water into the ocean.
@BostonAbrams @stefano : sure, but as many people smarter than me have pointed out in the past few days, if you're a trans person talking about transitioning to someone on Threads, or asking for help crowdfunding your out of state abortion, or or or... and Meta later sells that information in a list filtered around that specific cup of water, just once is enough.
Richard W. Woodley ELBOWS UP 🇨🇦🌹🚴♂️📷 🗺️@stefano
Why we don't use a cell phone for anything but phone calls and then rarely.
Why we don't use a cell phone for anything but phone calls and then rarely.
Climate change is real@stefano You are the product.
Droid Boy 
@stefano @gavinkarlmeier Wichtige Background-Info.
Gavin Karlmeier
Fabien@stefano @lisamelton
I suspect maximising location data collection is also why Instagram never shipped an iPad app. / cc @gruber
I suspect maximising location data collection is also why Instagram never shipped an iPad app. / cc @gruber
Crab@stefano which makes it even stranger that they're interested in federation. Why would a platform like threads want you to be able to view their precious user content from someone else's app unless they have ulterior motives?
Aral Balkan@stefano Does depend on the browser, though. Browsers by surveillance capitalists and surveillance capitalist adjuncts (i.e., almost all major browsers) will at the very least need configuration in order to project your privacy.
Bill Tribble
Vorsos@stefano Absolutely. Using Threads through the privacy-filtering DuckDuckGo VPN shows every imaginable kind of probing: https://writing.exchange/@kreig/110664764474921792
Kreig Durham (@[email protected])
Attached: 1 image The Zuck suck is in full swing. 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." EDIT for clarity: The 200+ attempts *may* have been overcounted as DDG hadn't tooled their VPN for Threads yet. #DataPrivacy #Meta #ThreadsApp EDIT: To anyone who is using this post to bash anyone and everyone who is using Threads, please read this https://writing.exchange/@kreig/110673494921536371
beforewisdom 
My bank is constantly pushing it's mobile app.
I am glad that I never did any banking on my phone nor used it for any financial transactions beyond purchasing parking.
Who knows what could have been left on my phone for companies like Meta to steal.
BierFrau♀️♀️@stefano lol. I remember when apps were touted as more secure because they were sandboxed
@stefano use mastodon.
👩🦯The Blind Fraggle@stefano Now I feel like the smart one for never getting a smartphone. It has caused some inconvenience over the years, but turns out it was all worth it!
Ahimsa@stefano So many folks ask me why I haven't installed <xxxx> app on my phone. This is why. It's easier to enforce at least some privacy when I use a browser.
I'm also one of those "weird" folks who never had a facebook account in spite of folks who kept asking me to join.
BobGourley@stefano Thanks, reading the way you put that helps. Makes total sense.
Inner Geek Designs@stefano it's nuts especially since when I installed it on Android it just linked to my Instagram account and did not ask for any permissions
M Berberich@stefano
the main reason probably is, that they get the mobile-phone-number which, thanks to a 1:1 correspondence, is one of the best person-identifiers (usable worldwide), and used by advertisers.
the main reason probably is, that they get the mobile-phone-number which, thanks to a 1:1 correspondence, is one of the best person-identifiers (usable worldwide), and used by advertisers.
Lena@stefano Just the reason why I don't have anything of Meta installed on my mobile.
Matthew Smith@stefano @ShaulaEvans I hope they realise it's costing them a chunk of their potential user base because people can't use it on their desktop. A lot of my friends have switched, much as I'd have hoped otherwise. I keep seeing Threads links on Twitter which I can't act on without switching to my phone.
A. Rivera@stefano A big reason why I do most of my online stuff on a computer and browser with extensions in place.
Rodrigo Culagovski@stefano big reason why I haven't swapped out my rotary phone for them newfangled button phones.
Johannes 
@culagovski @stefano the buttons track your location!
Peter Bindels@stefano I'd describe it as a "forbidden buffet".
StarcadeI mean all apps have the ability to track you and/or collect data and probably do. Even using a browser is tracked. Look at your cookies. It amazes me how many sites use cookies.
That's there's no PC version yet is a non-starter for me. Yeah, I use my phone, but I live on my PC.
pollinator stan@Starcade @stefano i hear what you're saying but a good web browser will let you block cookies generally or on a per-site basis. you don't have to let yourself get cross-site cookie tracked. you also don't have to share your location, browser type, or operating system. there's still data that's harder to hide, but cookies aren't a big deal if you're trying not to leave a trail
Yeah, I've blocked cookies and ads with interesting results. On MSN for example if you attempt to block all ads, you get the oddest, strangest default ads I've ever seen. I love how some pretend to be articles.
There seems to be more and more sites that refuse to load with ad blockers.
Also I find it funny about sites that use cookies to limit your access until you create an account and log in and a simple cookie removal, gives you renewed access.
Blocking location is interesting too. Some sites have trouble with that-- which is fine with me. I love how they try to localize articles, but when they can't, you receive odd results.
i also find it very interesting
Andrew@stefano you also can’t block ads in a locked down app
Brian Grinter@stefano @lisamelton lack of usability could be the result of rushing out a milestone release now while Twitter is punching itself in the face - opportunity
zeruch@stefano which really brings me to the next point I've had for at least the last year which is when are things like pie hole and the like going to move into the mobile space such that it interferes inherently with the ability of vendors like meta to get what they want. I feel like that would be a great way to induce an entire sea change in both hardware and software for consumers.
WMK@stefano
I will not be using threads
I don’t use FB
I don’t use instagram
I quit anything from Zuck because I think he’s an unethical turd who can get along fine without any help from me
I try to avoid financing these turds with any patronage from me but as corporations continue consolidating into monopoly or near monopoly entities it is difficult to know if any of my $ is reaching them
Alex Koi 🎶@stefano Interesting 🧐
@stefano if you want my boneheaded optimistic take its likely they rushed threads out the door so they focused on the app first.
MugsysRapSheet Blog ☑️@stefano
I post from my Desktop PC. I can't stand using my phone for everything (tiny screen. tiny keyboard.) 😞
I post from my Desktop PC. I can't stand using my phone for everything (tiny screen. tiny keyboard.) 😞
pino