As Meta prepares to launch its Twitter-rival social media application Threads in the US and UK on Thursday, the company has remained quiet about a potential European Union (EU) release. On Wednesday, the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) revealed that Meta won’t be rolling out Threads in the EU at this time.
A key reason for this could be the strict privacy regime in the EU. Its privacy regulation, the GDPR, places significantly higher compliance obligations on companies than privacy laws in the United States and the United Kingdom.
A spokesperson from the DPC told a local news outlet that the regulator and Meta communicated about Threads, and the service would not come out in the EU at this time. However, the decision to hold off on the launch was down to Meta. The DPC did not intervene or officially block the move.
At this time, it is unclear when and if Meta will launch Threads in the European Union.
Threads App Will Have Access to Troves of User Data
Since Meta’s EU headquarters is in Ireland, the DPC is the official privacy regulator tasked with ensuring the company complies with the GDPR. In recent years, the DPC has locked horns with Meta and its companies for various privacy violations.
For example, it levied a 225 million Euro fine on WhatsApp in 2021 for its vague personal data collection policy. A year later, it slapped a 405 million Euro fine on Instagram for mishandling teens’ data.
The Threads app can collect a significant amount of user data. In fact, the app, linked to Instagram, will import data from users’ Instagram accounts. This includes information related to health and fitness, financial data, user contact data, user content, browsing history, location data, and contact lists, to name a few.
Many users are unaware of the vast amount of information Instagram collects about them. Like many apps, data sharing is turned on by default on Instagram. If you want to try out Threads, we recommend optimizing your Instagram’s privacy settings to turn off excessive data sharing.
How to Access Threads in the European Union
Meta’s plan to launch a direct competitor to Twitter was unveiled just after news that Twitter is implementing restrictions on the number of tweets users can see in a day.
Although it is yet to be officially launched, the Threads app is currently available on the App Store and Play Store for users in the US and UK. Instagram users can log in to Threads with their credentials and find users in their contacts.
If you’re located in the EU or any other region outside the US or UK and don’t want to wait for the official launch of Threads in your country, you can use a VPN to change your IP address and access the app. Once you’ve connected to a server in the United States or UK, head over to your app store and look for the Threads app (you may have to change your location on the app store before searching).
For a complete guide on accessing Threads, check our article on unblocking Instagram Threads.
