A Primer to Privacy on Social Media

February 24, 2025

Social media platforms are a great way to stay connected to personal, professional, and online communities.

There are unique pros and cons for each service, and it’s ultimately up to the individual to decide what works best for them. It can be difficult to know the available privacy options and what data each platform collects and shares about us, so we put together a breakdown of the privacy standards for some of the most popular social media platforms.

Meta (Facebook, Instagram, Threads)

Ownership: Mark Zuckerberg is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Meta.
Data Collection: Meta platforms employ extensive tracking, which includes activity that happens off their platforms. They collect information about the user’s location, browsing behavior, contacts, and device info.
User Controls: Users can adjust privacy settings for posts, profile visibility, and ad preferences, though it is worth noting that these settings can be complex to manage.
Security Measures: Meta currently uses encryption for Messenger and is rolling it out for Instagram direct messages (DMs). They also allow 2-factor Authentication (2FA) and alerts for suspicious logins.
Data Sharing: Meta shares user data with advertisers and third parties for ad targeting.
Compliance: Meta’s platforms are subject to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). However, they faced multiple privacy violations

X (formerly Twitter)

Ownership: Elon Musk is the primary owner of X, which he acquired in 2022.
Data Collection: X tracks user behavior and device info and has recently expanded to biometric data and job history.
User Controls: The platform does allow users to create private accounts, restrict replies, and limit some ad-tracking.
Security Measures: The platform offers 2FA but removed SMS-based 2FA (text message verification) for non-paying users. DM encryption is only available to paid users.
Data Sharing: The platform shares collected data for targeted advertising with partners and other third parties.
Compliance: The platform must adhere to GDPR but has faced scrutiny over privacy changes.

Reddit

Ownership: Reddit is owned by Advance Publications, with Steve Huffman serving as CEO.
Data Collection: The platform tracks browsing history, interactions, and IP addresses for ad and content recommendations.
User Controls: The platform offers anonymous browsing, opt-out options for data tracking, and customizable privacy settings.
Security Measures: 2FA is available on the platform.
Data Sharing: Reddit provides limited third-party data sharing.
Compliance: Aligns with GDPR and CCPA, but data policies have been criticized.

Bluesky

Ownership: Bluesky is owned by Jay Graber and other employees and is independently owned and run.
Data Collection: This platform collects basic account data and activity logs.
User Controls: The decentralized model of this platform gives users more control over data and content moderation.
Security Measures: As a newer platform, Bluesky is still developing encryption and security features.
Data Sharing: Data sharing is limited due to its federated structure and prioritizes user choice over data storage.
Compliance: Privacy policies are evolving but aim to align with global standards.

TikTok

Ownership: ByteDance, a Chinese tech company, owns TikTok.
Data Collection: This platform tracks a lot of data, including keystroke monitoring, location, and device details.
User Controls: This platform allows users to adjust privacy settings for accounts as well as to limit ad tracking and restrict interactions.
Security Measures: Efforts are being made for regional data storage (Project Texas for the U.S.), but concerns remain.
Data Sharing: This platform partners with advertisers for targeted ads. There is also concern about possible ties to the Chinese government. Partners with advertisers for targeted ads.
Compliance: TikTok is currently under investigation in the European Union (EU) and U.S. for its handling of user data.

Discord

Ownership: This platform is owned by Discord Inc., which was co-founded by Jason Citron and Stan Vishnevskiy.
Data Collection: This platform tracks message interactions, voice and video activity, and device information.
User Controls: This platform’s privacy settings allow blocking DMs, restricting data sharing, and disabling tracking.
Security Measures: 2FA is available on this platform. It also uses encryption for data in transit but lacks end-to-end encryption for chats.
Data Sharing: Discord shares limited data with third parties for moderation and analytics.
Compliance: This platform follows GDPR/CCPA but has had security concerns due to past breaches.

LinkedIn

Ownership: Microsoft owns this business-centered platform.
Data Collection: This platform collects professional details, engagement data, and browsing activity.
User Controls: Privacy settings on this platform allow control of profile visibility, the option to opt out of ad personalization, and choices for search engine indexing.
Security Measures: This platform provides 2FA, encryption for data in transit, and login alerts.
Data Sharing: LinkedIn shares data with advertisers and recruiters but allows some user opt-out controls.
Compliance: This platform adheres to GDPR and CCPA but has faced past privacy criticisms.

Snapchat

Ownership: Snap Inc., co-founded by Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy, owns the Snapchat platform.
Data Collection: This platform captures usage data, location, and interactions but claims not to store Snaps long-term.
User Controls: Snapchat provides users with features like ephemeral messages, ghost mode for location, and custom story visibility.
Security Measures: This platform provides encryption while in transit for Snaps and messages as well as 2FA.
Data Sharing: This platform shares some user data with advertisers but has stricter policies than Meta or TikTok.
Compliance: Snapchat adheres to GDPR/CCPA but has faced issues with past breaches.

YouTube

Ownership: Google LLC, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., owns YouTube.
Data Collection: This platform tracks watch history, search behavior, location, and ad interactions.
User Controls: YouTube allows users to make their watch history private, as well as offering a restricted mode and ad personalization settings.
Security Measures: This platform allows for 2FA and encrypted data transmission. It also employs AI content moderation.
Data Sharing: This platform shares data with advertisers but also provides tools to limit personalization.
Compliance: YouTube has been fined for Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) violations but has since strengthened child privacy protections.