Threads vs Bluesky

Threads is free, but Meta uses your personal data to choose personalized ads and sponsored content. That means your activity on the service is used to shape the ads you see.

Meta collects a wide range of data, including what you provide, your activity, device/app data, cookies, location if enabled, purchases, and AI interactions. This creates a detailed profile beyond basic account details.

Meta shares information across its companies to run connected experiences, promote safety, and comply with law. Your data may therefore be combined across Meta products rather than kept separate to Threads.

Deleting an account or content can take up to 90 days, and backups can take another 90 days to clear. Meta also says some data may be preserved longer for legal or safety reasons.

You keep ownership of your posts, but you grant Meta a license to use content you create and share to provide and improve the services. That license lasts until the content is fully deleted.

Public content may be visible on and off Meta, appear in search results, and be reshared or downloaded through third-party services. Once something is public, you should expect much less control over where it appears.

Meta may revise the Terms with at least 30 days’ notice, and continued use means you accept the changes. Your practical option if you disagree is to stop using the service and delete your account.

Meta may suspend, permanently disable, or delete accounts for serious or repeated policy breaches, and in some cases for inactivity or legal reasons. Users can request review in some situations, but not always.

If you are a consumer, Meta says your local country’s laws apply and you may sue in a competent court in your country. That is better than forcing all users into California courts.

Meta says you can manage, port in some cases, and delete your information through settings and help centers. This gives users at least some direct control over account data.

Meta says it does not sell your personal data to advertisers and does not share directly identifying information with them unless you give permission. That limits one common form of monetization.

Direct messages are not end-to-end encrypted and may be accessed for trust and safety purposes. Users should not treat Bluesky DMs as highly confidential communications.

Posts, profile, likes, follows, and blocks are public by design. This makes social graph and activity data broadly visible rather than private by default.

Even if you delete your account, copies of your content may remain on other services using the AT Protocol. In practice, deletion across the decentralized network may not be fully enforceable.

Most disputes must go through a 60-day informal process and then binding individual arbitration instead of court. This usually makes it harder to bring claims publicly or use normal court procedures.

Users generally cannot participate in class or representative actions against Bluesky. That reduces leverage for small-value claims that are impractical to pursue individually.

Bluesky says it does not sell or share personal data for targeted advertising. That's a meaningful privacy-positive commitment compared with many social platforms.

Depending on location, users can request access, correction, deletion, portability, restriction, objection, and review of automated decisions. These are substantial privacy rights, especially for users in stronger-regulation jurisdictions.

You keep ownership of what you post, but grant Bluesky a worldwide, royalty-free license to reproduce, adapt, distribute, display, moderate, and promote that content. This is broad enough to cover product use and marketing uses.

Bluesky keeps data while your account is active and may retain it longer for trust and safety, disputes, audits, legal compliance, and claims. The policy does not give firm deletion deadlines for many categories.

If something goes wrong, Bluesky's financial liability is generally limited to US$100, except in narrow cases like fraud, gross negligence causing death or personal injury, or non-waivable statutory rights.

The terms explicitly say you can delete your account at any time in settings. A built-in deletion flow is more user-friendly than requiring manual support requests.

If your account is suspended or restricted, you can appeal using an in-app tool or email within two weeks. EU/EEA users also retain access to out-of-court review and local courts.