Europe: data protection authority blocks Threads – 7/4/2023 – Tech

Instagram parent Meta will not launch Twitter rival Threads in Europe for the foreseeable future, according to a spokesperson for Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC), which regulates data protection in the EU. European. The information was reported by the Independent newspaper.

The Meta app, scheduled for launch this Thursday (6), will ask for access to personal and financial information, health and fitness data and messages in other apps.

These requests are not repeated on competing platforms, showed the specialized website Nucleo Jornalismo. Threads will work around the publication of short texts of up to 500 characters, along the lines of the model popularized by Twitter.

A Sheet reached out to Meta via email and WhatsApp on Tuesday night (4), but had not received a response until this report was published.

Threads is designed to import data from Instagram, which includes behavioral and advertising consumption information. Meta, however, discloses on the app’s home page in stores only that the technology will make it easier to find contacts and maintain the seal of verification of social network photo accounts.

The launch of the platform in the United Kingdom and the United States, which have more lenient privacy laws, is maintained for the next 6th, according to the Independent.

The European regulatory body had already banned WhatsApp from launching its advertising services in EU territory. The functionality is active in Brazil.

The perception is that access to financial and health data tends to be excessive in the case of social networks. “There needs to be justification of a proportional purpose for this use”, says the founding director of Data Privacy Brasil, Bruno Bioni.

Data protection legislation in Europe and Brazil works based on the tripod of purpose, need and adequacy of data processing and use.

The health data would be used in fraud prevention, app functionality and information analysis, according to the Threads page on the Play Store. That explanation is vague and flawed in terms of compliance, says Bioni.

The director, however, believes that the ANPD (National Data Protection Agency) should not intervene in the launch of Threads in Brazil. “Due to the more orienting stance since it was installed, the ANPD would hardly take a more aggressive regulatory stance. Unless it identifies a serious violation and without any sign of good faith on the part of the regulated party.”

The ANPD advisory was also contacted on Tuesday night, but did not respond until the publication of this article.