Currently, it is difficult to find a person who is not exposed to the reach of social networks. They have become popular for their ease of use and their speed and effectiveness in spreading a message.
Unfortunately, this same convenience has also made us, as users, careless about the amount of information that social media platforms collect about us and what they can do with it, or what a malicious third party could do if they were to gain access to it.
Next, we will outline the data that some of these platforms collect about us, what they do with it, and why this could pose a danger to our privacy and, potentially, our personal or family security.
Discord
We need to start with Discord because it's the communication app we use "at home."
Discord is very useful for managing a large community on a wide range of topics, but it's just as guilty as many others of benefiting from our personal information.
Data Discord Stores
According to its privacy policy, Discord collects the following information about us:
- Text messages (including drafts), voice messages, cover images for live streams, friends you add or users you interact with, games you play, the servers or communities you're registered in, purchases or sales you make through the app, and the decisions you make when moderating content.
They do not store your videos or the video of your live streams, although they leave the door open to changing this decision in the future.
They also automatically collect certain information, such as the IP address from which you connect, the browser you use, and your operating system.
How They Use It
Most of the things they do with our data could be considered justifiable, such as improving the user experience, offering a more personalized experience, and maintaining community standards. However, they can also use your data to promote their services, and they may even share some of it with third parties to promote their services or analyze company growth.
They also claim they can use the information to provide it to any authority that may request it through a court order.
Like Discord, Twitter stores a good amount of information on its servers. It also saves direct messages, who you follow, and who you interact with (saved posts, favorites), and in fact, their policies are quite similar, including sharing your data with third parties and authorities.
Meta
The Meta group of applications, including Facebook, Instagram, and now Threads, goes even further, with a list so long, just of the information you provide, that it would be too long to detail. It includes all your posts, including voice notes, photos taken using your device's "camera" feature or its gallery, the ads you see, the time you spend viewing them, and even the ones you choose to ignore. It includes metadata from your messages, such as location, date, time, and device. It also includes the time you spend on each of the different app functions, and, if the law doesn't protect you, your religious beliefs, philosophical beliefs, sexual orientation, and even union membership.
But they go further, through their famous Pixel, Meta is able to know what you do outside of Facebook: the websites you visit, how much time you spend on them, what games you play, what you buy, and even data like your level of education. Also, of course, the technical information about your device, such as IP address, operating system, browser, among others, regardless of whether you have logged in to Facebook or not.
Why Should I Care?
"I have nothing to hide" is the most common argument to downplay the importance of all the data that these platforms collect about us. However, even when what you are doing is not illegal, there are good reasons to be concerned about what these companies know about you.
A political activist could be seriously affected if any powerful organization they oppose decided that what they do is "wrong" and requested information about this person from any of these companies, which they would provide without hesitation .
There are also clear examples where your personal information could end up in the hands of strangers, companies, or hackers who may use it for malicious purposes, such as identity theft, gaining access to your accounts, sending unwanted advertising, extorting you, or manipulating you .
Likewise, you can lose control of your data. You may not know how your data is stored, processed, or shared with third parties, or you may not be able to delete or modify it if you change your mind. This could also put you at risk if the service provider you trusted does not protect your data properly correctly .
Are There Alternatives?
Although not as popular, there are alternatives for at least most of the most popular social networks. Let's take a look at some:
Matrix, like Discord but more private
Matrix is the closest alternative to Discord and Telegram, sharing many of their features but adding privacy enhancements such as end-to-end encryption, not making a business out of data, and keeping its code open source. It is completely free if you decide to run your own server, although you may want to pay for a specialized server on the internet or donate to the project. It is cross-platform and even allows integration with Discord, Telegram, and other popular applications.
Mastodon
One of the most popular alternatives to Twitter, although not the only one. Mastodon stands out for being decentralized, meaning that any individual or organization that wishes to can launch their own instance or "server" for people with common interests or characteristics, but they can interact with other independent instances.
In Mastodon, each administrator sets their own rules, and since they don't engage in the data business, they don't collect too much information about their users, demographics, or preferences, nor do they share it with third parties.
Unfortunately, they do not implement end-to-end encryption in their messages, which is something to keep in mind.
Signal
Detailed in our messaging clients wiki, Signal is a more private and secure alternative to Telegram and WhatsApp, sharing very attractive and interesting features