Is Clubhouse a new threat to your Privacy?

The Clubhouse is being viewed as the new market disrupter in the social media world. From celebrities to marketing companies, everyone wants to be a part of this invite-only audio sharing platform. The rules of the game are simple, you enter a room, share your views through audio, engage in a conversation, or just quietly listen to one. The drop-in audio app is a wonderful way to hear, listen and speak! But can Clubhouse protect your data and privacy?

Clubhouse Privacy Policy –

As of May 9, 2021, the Clubhouse released a privacy policy for its users. The key highlights of the policy are-

1. Personal information is used by the app to facilitate communication and to comply with applicable laws, however, they do not sell the Personal Information of the users.
2. The app may record conversations and use them to investigate possible violations of their  Community Guidelines or Terms of Service. Generally, recordings need to be authorized by participants and speakers. 
3.  The personal information the app collects includes account data (first and last name, organization name, email addresses, phone number, profile picture, and user name), contact’s phone numbers, names of friends invited for the app, temporary record of the audio of live sessions/rooms, communications, device data, Payment and transactional data, Information provided by social media companies, interests, usage, and connections. 
4. The policy further states that they may create and use de-identified information for our business purposes.
5. The personal information may be shared with service providers, law enforcement, professional advisors, and business transferees.
6. The use of the App at the user’s own risk and acceptance. Although the app implements certain measures to ensure data security, there is an inherent risk involved, and users must exercise discretion. 

Potential threats from the audio-sharing app-

1.  Data Protection– The App states that it shares its data with service providers and professional advisors. The Stanford Internet Observatory in its report has stated that the Clubhouse app uses Agora, a Shanghai-based provider for real-time engagement software and back-end infrastructure. Thus Agora is likely to have access to raw audio clips shared on the app. The back-end support includes sharing meta-data about each user which includes their Clubhouse identity number and phone number. It is speculated that Agora and Clubhouse may be under Chinese surveillance.
2.  Data Scrapping– The Clubhouse uses sequential numbers for its members, thus exposing the users for potential data scrapping. With the bouncing of information on the internet, data scrapping may make a user vulnerable to third parties. For instance, some data is scrapped from the app such as profile information, and then it bounces on other online platforms. It may lead to catastrophic results for an individual. The individual may no longer be in control to redact the information from third-party platforms.
3. Access to Contact List– The app upon authorization may access the names and contact numbers of your known ones. The privacy setting doesn’t depend on you alone but also on what others have chosen. Supposedly, you don’t authorize Clubhouse access to your contact list, but someone else does and you are one of his/her contact numbers. They will get a notification when you join, and a recommendation to follow you. Thus, compromising your privacy even when you did not grant the app to access your contact list.
4. Hate Speech and Objectionable Content– The Clubhouse is trying to curb hate speech and objectionable content. Thus it may record your conversations and see any potential violations of their policy. Therefore, your audio clips may be retrieved and investigated for that purpose. It is unclear whether law enforcement authorities may also be involved at the later stage of the investigation.
5.  Temporary Storage of Audio – The app states that it would temporarily store audio files of live sessions. However, it doesn’t define the temporary period. Thus, exposing retention and sharing of files for a longer than expected time frame.
6. No specific Policy For Countries- Till today, the app has supplementary privacy notice for California, UK, and Europe but none for Asia or Canada.  It is recommended that the privacy guidelines must be reviewed, keeping in view the PIPEDA and Canada’s digital charter.

Conclusion- 

Like any other social media app, the Clubhouse has access to your personal information. It might not sell the information but the potential threats of data leakage, scrapping, cyber-attacks, and government surveillance are matters of concern. The provisions of PIPEDA must be taken into account to ensure better protection for Canadians.

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