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   Meta's Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram are amongst the worst offenders when   
   it comes to social media privacy - here's what you need to know   
      
   Date:   
   Tue, 30 Sep 2025 18:26:00 +0000   
      
   Description:   
   Discord takes top spot in social media privacy report, while Meta platforms,   
   including Facebook and Instagram, land at the bottom with TikTok.   
      
   FULL STORY   
      
   Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram have once again been flagged as among the   
   most privacy-invasive social media platforms.    
      
   Incognis updated Social Media Privacy Ranking report for 2025 placed Metas   
   products alongside TikTok at the bottom of its list.    
      
   X, the platform owned by divisive billionaire Elon Musk, also scored poorly    
   in several categories, although it performed better than Metas services in   
   some areas, positioning it mid-table.   
      
   Discord shows how it should be done    
      
   Incognis researchers evaluated the 15 most widely used social media platforms   
   worldwide, weighing them against 14 privacy criteria grouped into six   
   categories.    
      
   These included data collection, transparency, AI data use, regulatory   
   transgressions, user control, and ease of access.    
      
   The methodology focused on how easily an ordinary user can understand and act   
   on privacy policies, not only whether the information exists in the first   
   place.    
      
   At the other end of the spectrum, Discord, Pinterest, and Quora performed    
   best in this years ranking.    
      
   Discord topped the list after avoiding many of the pitfalls other platforms   
   faced, especially its stance on not providing user data for training   
   generative AI models.    
      
   Pinterest came in second, due mostly to strong user options and relatively    
   few regulatory penalties. Quora took third thanks to limited data collection.    
      
   It will likely come as little surprise to most that Metas platforms were   
   penalized heavily across all categories.    
      
   Facebook stood out for repeated regulatory fines , including multiple   
   violations of GDPR rules in Europe, as well as penalties in the US and other   
   jurisdictions.    
      
   Instagram and WhatsApp also contributed to Metas low ranking, with policies   
   allowing the collection of sensitive information such as health data and   
   sexual orientation.    
      
   X faced penalties for extensive data collection and past privacy-related   
   fines, although it ranked higher than Meta and TikTok in some areas.    
      
   It was among the easiest platforms for users to delete accounts from, and its   
   rate of disclosing information to government agencies was lower than most.    
      
   Still, its policies allow user data to be used for training AI models, which   
   lowered its overall privacy score.    
      
   AI-related concerns had a much larger impact compared to last year.    
      
   Reddit, which had previously been considered one of the safer platforms, fell   
   in the ranking after its content was made available to AI developers.    
      
   Discords avoidance of such practices helped propel it upward.    
      
   Transparency was another big factor. Many social platforms lacked clear   
   details on how quickly data is deleted when users close their accounts.    
      
   TikTok, Telegram, and Reddit offered limited details, which lowered their   
   scores.    
      
   Snapchat was also singled out for disclosing information to government   
   agencies at a higher rate than most competitors.    
      
   Ultimately, the report concludes that user privacy remains unevenly handled   
   across platforms. Consent can only be meaningful if information is both   
   available and easy to understand.   
      
   ======================================================================   
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.techradar.com/pro/metas-facebook-whatsapp-and-instagram-are-amongs   
   t-the-worst-offenders-when-it-comes-to-social-media-privacy-heres-what-you-nee   
   d-to-know   
      
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