Study of 15 Leading Platforms Reveals Most May Use Personal Data to Train AI, with Discord Ranking Safest and Facebook Topping List for Privacy Fines
LOS ANGELES – Incogni, a leading personal data removal service and data privacy company, today released its Social Media Privacy Ranking 2025 report, which grades the major social media platforms on user privacy, compliance, and overall data protection practices. Meta’s platforms and TikTok now rank as the most privacy-invasive, replacing last year’s leaders, Reddit, Snapchat, and Pinterest. The report also finds that most platforms (12 out of 15) may use personal data to train AI, with only a few explicitly ruling it out.To compile the study, Incogni assessed the privacy practices of 15 leading social media platforms, including Discord, Pinterest, Quora, Telegram, Snapchat, Twitch, LinkedIn, Reddit, X, YouTube, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp, and Facebook. Researchers examined each platform’s AI practices, regulatory penalties, transparency, user consent, and handling of different types of sensitive data to reveal which companies prioritize user protection and which leave users more exposed to risk.Key findings
- Meta’s products and TikTok are the most privacy-invasive social media platforms.
- This marks a significant change from last year, when Reddit, Snapchat, and Pinterest ranked as the most privacy-invasive.
- 12 of the 15 platforms studied may leverage user data to train AI.
- Telegram, Twitch, and Discord explicitly state that user data is not used to train AI models.
- Meta’s platforms, YouTube, Snapchat, Pinterest, X, and LinkedIn, indicate that user data may be used to generate AI models.
- Discord ranks as the least privacy-invasive platform, followed by Pinterest and Quora.
- Facebook has received the most fines for privacy violations: once in the U.S., four times under EU GDPR, and five times in other countries.
- LinkedIn may collect user race or ethnicity data, while Meta’s products (except WhatsApp) and LinkedIn may collect sexual orientation and health information.
“Social media users have the right to know where and how their personal information is being used, especially given the rise of data breaches and cybercrime in recent years,” said Darius Belejevas, Head of Incogni. “This year’s rankings reveal sharp contrasts in data privacy practices among platforms, demonstrating that we must continue to fight for greater transparency, stronger safeguards, and enhanced user control over sensitive information.”
About Incogni
Incogni helps people take control of their data by removing their personal information from various sources, such as data brokers or people search sites. Incogni provides a simple, user-friendly solution that prevents the data from being sold and reduces the likelihood of cybercrime and spam.
