DataGrade CEO Joe Toscano feels Meta is fully aware of what it’s doing, and that’s why Threads – a recently launched Twitter competitor soaring in popularity across the United States -- isn’t available in the European Union where strict privacy laws exist.
"All privacy professionals I know, a lot of technical people I know, are standing up and saying, ‘This is a rampant abuse of data,’" Toscano told Fox News Digital.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s new app is the latest social media platform taking the industry by storm, with over 100 million users signing up less than a week after it launched. But experts are warning of significant privacy concerns because of the over-the-top data it collects from users.
Toscano, an ex-Google consultant who was a key figure in the wildly popular Netflix documentary "The Social Dilemma," that details the negative impact big tech can have on people, feels Threads is particularly egregious.
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"Just as bad, if not worse, than Facebook or Instagram itself," he said.
"Currently, the only way to create a Thread account is to have an Instagram account. And if you want to delete that Threads account, you also have to delete your Instagram. This is a bit unprecedented," Toscano continued. "I've never really seen this across social media."
Toscano is curious how enforcer of privacy law will respond to Meta's newly launched social media platform. He said it "probably" won’t be favorable for Threads and believes privacy complications are a factor as to why Meta didn’t launch the platform in the European Union yet.
"Meta understands that what they're doing is an abuse of data. And for that reason, they are not launching in the EU because they've already faced fines for this stuff," Toscano said.
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"Now, they are considering launching in the UK because post-Brexit the UK has slightly different data regulations than the EU as a whole, and the regulators in the UK have been lackadaisical to say the least," he continued. "So, Meta is considering taking the UK as a first step. But… if you look into the disclosures, whether it's on the Apple App Store or Google App Store, they are collecting anything and everything they can."
According to the Apple App Store through Monday, Threads allows Meta to collect identity-linked data including purchase history, financial information, location, contact information, contacts, photos, videos, gameplay content, search history, browsing history, health data and "sensitive" information.
"It's collecting anything that it can. And it's stated that very clearly in its policies, which according to most laws, is not probably going to stand up in court," Toscano said.
European regulators hit Meta with a $1.3 billion fine earlier this year, finding that the company had misused Europeans' data. The decision came after an investigation from Ireland's Data Protection Commission, the lead data regulator for the EU. The organization found that Meta had continued to transfer Europeans' data to the U.S. after a 2020 ruling that should have ended the practice.
Meta said it plans to appeal the "unjustified and unnecessary" ruling that "sets a dangerous precedent for countless other companies."
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Toscano believes the EU is protecting the average consumer, who is "incapable of fully comprehending what they've signed" when signing up for Meta products.
"Meta is going to go out right now and try to turn that into an argument of legitimate interest, which is the next clause that they're going to try to chase," Toscano said. "I also don't think that through due process, that's going to stand up in court."
Toscano reminded potential consumers that the EU felt a need to protect people because of parent company Meta, and believes the company’s newest product takes data abuse even further than Facebook or Instagram.
"And in part, that's because if you sign up for Threads, it has to be through Instagram. You can't delete your account unless you delete your Instagram," he said. "It's pretty deceptive."
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When asked for comment, Meta turned Fox News Digital to a lengthy post by the company’s vice president for privacy policy, Rob Sherman, which addressed some of the ongoing concerns.
"There’s been some discussion about why we haven’t launched Threads in the EU yet. We would have liked to offer Threads in the EU at the same time as other markets, and the app does meet GDPR requirements today. But building this offering against the backdrop of other regulatory requirements that have not yet been clarified would potentially take a lot longer, and in the face of this uncertainty, we prioritized offering this new product to as many people as possible," Sherman wrote.
Under EU law, health data requires an extremely high standard of explicit consent to be processed to comply with the General Data Protect Regulation (GDPR). Additionally, the app’s ability to import personal data from Instagram creates an additional legal headache, described by some tech journalists as a "privacy nightmare."
Sherman also insisted Meta is "looking into" ways to delete Threads without deleting Instagram.
Toscano’s DataGrade aims to "ensure the integrity of data transactions on the internet through assessment, education, and operational guidance" and "increase data literacy" through its actions, according to its website.
Fox Business’ Anders Hagstrom and Kelly O’Grady contributed to this report.
