{"id":48704,"date":"2023-08-02T13:02:33","date_gmt":"2023-08-02T17:02:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/?p=48704"},"modified":"2023-12-05T11:06:39","modified_gmt":"2023-12-05T16:06:39","slug":"threads-privacy-security-settings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/threads-privacy-security-settings\/48704\/","title":{"rendered":"How to make your Threads account more private and secure"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In our previous post, we discussed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/threads-privacy-questions\/48630\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">privacy concerns<\/a> regarding the new Twitter alternative from Mark Zuckerberg, how much data the Threads app collects (hint: it\u2019s a lot), how the social network operates (it\u2019s a little unusual), whether it\u2019s worth creating a profile for those who already have an Instagram account, and whether you should rush to create one if you don\u2019t have one already (no need to rush, actually).<\/p>\n<p>In this post, I\u2019ll be talking about what you can set up (and where) to make Threads more private and secure.<\/p>\n<h2>Where to find the privacy and security settings in the Threads app<\/h2>\n<p>Let\u2019s start with the privacy and security settings that you can find within the application itself. Actually, that should be <em>applications<\/em> in the plural. Since the Threads social network is an extension of Instagram, they share some of the same settings. But that\u2019s not all. In total, Threads settings can be found in three different places:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Some of them can be found within the Threads app itself.<\/li>\n<li>A more comprehensive list of settings is available in the Instagram app (however, they aren\u2019t regular Instagram settings, and can only be accessed from Threads).<\/li>\n<li>Finally, some settings are located in the Meta Accounts Center.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Confused yet? That\u2019s normal \u2014 there are lots of things about Threads that are pretty confusing.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_50000\" style=\"width: 3010px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/12\/05105556\/threads-privacy-security-settings-1-EN.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50000\" src=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/12\/05105556\/threads-privacy-security-settings-1-EN.jpg\" alt=\"Threads settings in the Threads app, Instagram app, and Meta Account Center\" width=\"3000\" height=\"2093\" class=\"size-full wp-image-50000\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-50000\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Threads settings exist in three places: in the Threads app, the Instagram app, and the Meta Account Center. So convenient!<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Now let\u2019s explore the useful settings you can find in these three sections.<\/p>\n<h2>How to restrict other users from interacting with you in Threads<\/h2>\n<p>Let\u2019s start with the different levels of privacy protection against other Threads users. Just like Instagram, Threads offers several settings options that allow you to restrict other users\u2019 visibility and access to your posts and comments, as well as hide their content from you (say, in case you find their content uninteresting, or they begin to bother you for some reason).<\/p>\n<p>All the options discussed below can be found directly in the Threads app. To access them, go to your profile by tapping the icon with a little person in the lower right corner, then click on the button with two dashes in the upper right corner. This takes you to the Threads settings.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_50009\" style=\"width: 3010px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/12\/05105847\/threads-privacy-security-settings-2-EN.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50009\" src=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/12\/05105847\/threads-privacy-security-settings-2-EN.jpg\" alt=\"How to get to the Threads app settings\" width=\"3000\" height=\"2094\" class=\"size-full wp-image-50009\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-50009\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">How to get to the Threads app settings<\/p><\/div>\n<h3>Muted users<\/h3>\n<p>The app allows you to <strong>mute users<\/strong>. With this setting, you won\u2019t see posts from this profile in your feed, nor will you see their responses to your posts. Meanwhile, the owner of the profile won\u2019t know that you\u2019ve muted them.<\/p>\n<p>By the way, this muted user doesn\u2019t have to be your friend (that is, a follower or someone you follow) \u2014 you can mute anyone. To mute someone, go to their profile, tap the three-dots icon in the upper right corner, and select <em>Mute<\/em>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_50008\" style=\"width: 3010px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/12\/05105829\/threads-privacy-security-settings-3-EN.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50008\" src=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/12\/05105829\/threads-privacy-security-settings-3-EN.jpg\" alt=\"How to mute a user in Threads\" width=\"3000\" height=\"2094\" class=\"size-full wp-image-50008\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-50008\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">How to mute a user in Threads<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Keep in mind that your lists of muted profiles in Threads and Instagram are not linked to each other.<\/p>\n<p>To find your list of muted users in Threads, go to <em>Settings -&gt; Privacy -&gt; Muted<\/em>. From there, you can also unmute someone (muting can only be done on that user\u2019s profile).<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_50007\" style=\"width: 3010px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/12\/05105810\/threads-privacy-security-settings-4-EN.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50007\" src=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/12\/05105810\/threads-privacy-security-settings-4-EN.jpg\" alt=\"How to unmute a user in Threads\" width=\"3000\" height=\"2094\" class=\"size-full wp-image-50007\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-50007\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">How to unmute a user in Threads<\/p><\/div>\n<h3>Restricted accounts<\/h3>\n<p>You can also <strong>restrict users<\/strong>. In this case, you\u2019ll no longer receive notifications when the restricted user likes your posts, replies to them, forwards or links to them. The profile owner won\u2019t know you\u2019ve restricted them. Again, you can restrict a user regardless of whether they\u2019re your friend or not.<\/p>\n<p>The list of restricted accounts is shared between Threads and Instagram \u2014 if you restrict someone in one app, they\u2019ll automatically be restricted in the other.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_50006\" style=\"width: 3010px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/12\/05105750\/threads-privacy-security-settings-5-EN.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50006\" src=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/12\/05105750\/threads-privacy-security-settings-5-EN.jpg\" alt=\"How to restrict users in Threads\" width=\"3000\" height=\"2094\" class=\"size-full wp-image-50006\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-50006\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">How to restrict users in Threads<\/p><\/div>\n<p>To restrict a user, go to their profile, find the icon with three dots in the upper right corner, and then click on <em>Restrict<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>To view the list of restricted users, go to <em>Settings -&gt; Privacy -&gt; Other privacy settings -&gt; Restricted accounts<\/em>. On this tab, you can remove users from the list or add new ones using the search function.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_50005\" style=\"width: 3010px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/12\/05105732\/threads-privacy-security-settings-6-EN.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50005\" src=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/12\/05105732\/threads-privacy-security-settings-6-EN.jpg\" alt=\"How to remove or add a user to the restricted list in Threads\" width=\"3000\" height=\"2094\" class=\"size-full wp-image-50005\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-50005\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">How to remove or add a user to the restricted list in Threads<\/p><\/div>\n<h3>Blocked accounts<\/h3>\n<p>Now let\u2019s move on to more drastic measures. In Threads, you can <strong>block users<\/strong>. After blocking, they won\u2019t be able to find your content or profile on the social network. Just like with Twitter, Threads won\u2019t notify the user about the block. And, as with the previous options, you can block anyone \u2014 not just your friends. The list of blocked users is shared between Threads and Instagram.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_48725\" style=\"width: 3010px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/08\/02125934\/threads-privacy-security-settings-7-EN.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-48725\" class=\"size-full wp-image-48725\" src=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/08\/02125934\/threads-privacy-security-settings-7-EN.png\" alt=\"How to block a user in Threads\" width=\"3000\" height=\"2094\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-48725\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">How to block a user in Threads<\/p><\/div>\n<p>To block someone, go to their profile, click on the three dots in the upper right corner and select <em>Block<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The list of blocked profiles can be found in <em>Settings -&gt; Privacy -&gt; Blocked profiles<\/em>. Here, you can also unblock a user or add someone to the blocked list by clicking on the \u201c+\u201d in the upper right corner.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_48719\" style=\"width: 3010px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/08\/02125529\/threads-privacy-security-settings-8-EN.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-48719\" class=\"size-full wp-image-48719\" src=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/08\/02125529\/threads-privacy-security-settings-8-EN.png\" alt=\"How to remove or add a user to the blocked list in Threads\" width=\"3000\" height=\"2094\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-48719\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">How to remove or add a user to the blocked list in Threads<\/p><\/div>\n<h3>Private profile and access only for followers<\/h3>\n<p>Finally, if you\u2019re completely fed up with bots and trolls, you can <strong>make your profile private<\/strong>. After doing so, only those who are following you will be able to see your posts, and you can carefully filter the list of your friends to ensure your privacy.<\/p>\n<p>This level of privacy might not be quite in the spirit of microblogging platforms, but it will certainly give you a break from interacting with annoying individuals.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_48720\" style=\"width: 3010px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/08\/02125601\/threads-privacy-security-settings-9-EN.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-48720\" class=\"size-full wp-image-48720\" src=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/08\/02125601\/threads-privacy-security-settings-9-EN.png\" alt=\"How to make your Threads profile private\" width=\"3000\" height=\"2094\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-48720\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">How to make your Threads profile private<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Making your profile private is very easy: go to <em>Settings -&gt; Privacy<\/em> and toggle the switch next to <em>Private profile<\/em>. A few lines further down you can find the <em>Profiles you follow<\/em> section. Go into it, select the <em>Followers<\/em> tab, and carefully edit the list \u2014 removing any suspicious individuals.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_48721\" style=\"width: 3010px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/08\/02125636\/threads-privacy-security-settings-10-EN.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-48721\" class=\"size-full wp-image-48721\" src=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/08\/02125636\/threads-privacy-security-settings-10-EN.png\" alt=\"How to edit the list of your followers in Threads \" width=\"3000\" height=\"2094\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-48721\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">How to edit the list of your followers in Threads<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Finally, it\u2019s important to note that private profiles in Threads and Instagram are configured independently of each other.<\/p>\n<h3>Other privacy settings in Threads<\/h3>\n<p>There are a few more settings inside the Threads application that might be useful.<\/p>\n<p>Here are the options available under <em>Settings -&gt; Privacy<\/em>, and what you can configure with them:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Mentions<\/em>. Here, you can set who can mention you in posts \u2014 that is, link to your profile using the \u201c@\u201d symbol followed by your username.<\/li>\n<li><em>Hidden words<\/em>. In this section you can filter offensive language in responses to your posts. You can use automatic filtering with built-in lists, or add specific words and phrases that are relevant to you. These options are synchronized across Threads and Instagram \u2014 if you enable them in one app, they\u2019ll apply to the other as well.<\/li>\n<li><em>Hide likes<\/em>. With this setting, you can choose whether the like count will be displayed next to your posts. Note that this is another shared setting that applies to both Threads and Instagram.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Another useful setting is located in <em>Settings -&gt; Notifications<\/em>. Just like Facebook and Instagram, Threads allows you to flexibly configure push notifications, deciding which of them the social network is allowed to send you. Currently, Threads offers a dozen separate types of notifications, along with the option to pause notifications from the app for a specific period \u2014 you can set an interval between 15 minutes and eight hours.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_48722\" style=\"width: 3010px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/08\/02125708\/threads-privacy-security-settings-11-EN.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-48722\" class=\"size-full wp-image-48722\" src=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/08\/02125708\/threads-privacy-security-settings-11-EN.png\" alt=\"Notification settings in Threads\" width=\"3000\" height=\"2094\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-48722\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Notification settings in Threads<\/p><\/div>\n<p>There\u2019s no option to completely disable all notifications with one button, but you can do this in your smartphone\u2019s settings if you wish.<\/p>\n<h3>Security settings in Threads<\/h3>\n<p>Strictly speaking, there are no security settings in the Threads app itself. The security settings of all Instagram and Facebook accounts are configured from Meta\u2019s Accounts Center. To get there, in Threads, go to <em>Settings -&gt; Account<\/em> and select <em>Security<\/em>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_48723\" style=\"width: 3010px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/08\/02125742\/threads-privacy-security-settings-12-EN.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-48723\" class=\"size-full wp-image-48723\" src=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/08\/02125742\/threads-privacy-security-settings-12-EN.png\" alt=\"Security settings in Threads\" width=\"3000\" height=\"2094\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-48723\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Security settings in Threads<\/p><\/div>\n<p>There are quite a few settings under this tab. The most relevant ones are the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Change password<\/em>. It\u2019s pretty easy to guess that this section allows you to change your Instagram (which means Threads as well) and Facebook account passwords in the same place.<\/li>\n<li><em>Two-factor authentication<\/em>. This is where you set up <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/what-is-two-factor-authentication\/48289\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">two-factor authentication<\/a> for Threads\/Instagram and Facebook. Different options are available \u2014 from one-time codes being sent to your phone, to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/authenticator-apps-and-security\/47426\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">authenticator apps<\/a>. I recommend the latter option, as it offers the optimal trade-off between security and convenience.<\/li>\n<li><em>Where you\u2019re logged in<\/em>. This section allows you to check which devices are signed in to your Instagram and Facebook accounts. It would be wise to check this list from time to time to see if any unexpected devices have appeared and to delete old ones you no longer use.<\/li>\n<li><em>Login alerts<\/em>. Here you can set up notifications that will alert you when someone tries to log into your Instagram and Facebook accounts. It would make sense to enable all the notification channels and respond to the alerts ASAP.<\/li>\n<li><em>Security Checkup<\/em>. This menu item takes you to a window presenting the key security-related information about your Threads\/Instagram or Facebook account. Here you can look up your linked e-mails and phone numbers (and change them if no longer available), the date you changed your password the last time, and whether two-factor authentication is on or not.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_48724\" style=\"width: 3010px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/08\/02125816\/threads-privacy-security-settings-13-EN.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-48724\" class=\"size-full wp-image-48724\" src=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/08\/02125816\/threads-privacy-security-settings-13-EN.png\" alt=\"Facebook or Threads\/Instagram account security checkup \" width=\"3000\" height=\"2094\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-48724\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Facebook or Threads\/Instagram account security checkup<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Technically, you can configure all the same things under other settings. This window, however, offers the convenience of doing it all from the same place.<\/p>\n<h2>Other privacy settings in Threads<\/h2>\n<p>Let\u2019s now take a look at the measures limiting the amount of data Threads collects about you and thus protecting your privacy \u2014 not from other users of the platform but from its owners. And we\u2019re going to do this in the settings, of course \u2014 not those of the app itself but in your OS.<\/p>\n<p>iOS users should begin by checking that their iPhone or iPad is configured to disable permission for apps to track your actions across other companies\u2019 apps and websites. Apple rolled out this feature back in its iOS 14.5. We\u2019ve already discussed some details on its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/apptracking-transparency-in-ios-ipados-tvos-14-5\/39690\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">design, purpose, and proper setup<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>You can set this up in iOS in <em>Settings -&gt; Privacy &amp; Security -&gt; Tracking<\/em>. Best of all is to completely disable <em>Allow Apps to Request to Track<\/em>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_50004\" style=\"width: 3010px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/12\/05105714\/threads-privacy-security-settings-14-EN.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50004\" src=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/12\/05105714\/threads-privacy-security-settings-14-EN.jpg\" alt=\"Disabling app tracking in iOS\" width=\"3000\" height=\"2094\" class=\"size-full wp-image-50004\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-50004\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Disabling app tracking in iOS<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Another thing to be set up is the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/ios-15-permissions-guide\/43041\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">app permissions<\/a>. Threads requests a few of them already, whereas its parent, Instagram \u2014 considerably more. Permissions in both should be limited. Pay attention to the following in particular:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Access to microphone and camera<\/strong>. I personally prefer not to give these permissions at all.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Access to location services<\/strong>. Either permit it only when using the app (if you like adding geotags), or disable it altogether.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Access to photos and videos<\/strong>. For iOS, the best option is <em>Selected Photos<\/em>, which enables the app to access only the photos you intend posting in it. As far as I know, Android provides no such option, so you either permit access to photos or stick with not posting any. Not a bad option in fact, if you only intend to view other people\u2019s posts.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Background app refresh<\/strong>. If you disable this one, apps won\u2019t be able to operate in the background, which is good. Even if you\u2019re not concerned with how much information about you they collect, this option greatly reduces the amount of data the apps keep streaming to their servers, thus saving your internet traffic and battery charge. The option is available both in iOS and Android.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_50003\" style=\"width: 3010px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/12\/05105655\/threads-privacy-security-settings-15.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50003\" src=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/12\/05105655\/threads-privacy-security-settings-15.jpg\" alt=\"Setting up Threads and Instagram permissions in iOS\" width=\"3000\" height=\"3092\" class=\"size-full wp-image-50003\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-50003\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Setting up Threads and Instagram permissions in iOS<\/p><\/div>\n<p>You should also think about whether you really need all those endless social network notifications? I personally like to keep them completely off, so I am not distracted by random likes under my photos or posts. I prefer interacting with my apps when I want to and have time for it \u2014 not when they choose to bother me with yet another notification.<\/p>\n<p>To disable all notifications from Threads in iOS, go to <em>Settings -&gt; Notifications<\/em>, find the app in the list and deactivate <em>Allow Notifications<\/em>. In Android, the menu items will be different depending on device version and vendor, but the feature will be placed in a similar location.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_50002\" style=\"width: 3010px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/12\/05105635\/threads-privacy-security-settings-16-EN.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50002\" src=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/12\/05105635\/threads-privacy-security-settings-16-EN.jpg\" alt=\"Completely disabling Threads notifications in iOS\" width=\"3000\" height=\"2094\" class=\"size-full wp-image-50002\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-50002\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Completely disabling Threads notifications in iOS<\/p><\/div>\n<h2>Deleting your Threads account<\/h2>\n<p>You might have heard that your Threads account cannot be deleted. That\u2019s kind of true; thing is \u2014 Threads <em>accounts<\/em> don\u2019t exist, so it\u2019s quite tricky deleting something that\u2019s not there. You sign in to Threads using your Instagram account, based on which your Threads user <em>profile<\/em> is created. Thus, you don\u2019t have to make up a new password, or even type it: your login and password will be automatically copied over from Instagram.<\/p>\n<p>But you cannot delete your Threads <em>profile<\/em> either: to wipe it you have to completely delete your parent Instagram <em>account<\/em>. But your Threads profile can be deactivated: once you do that, all your data will be concealed from other users of the social network. So, in practical terms, it\u2019s not much different from deletion.<\/p>\n<p>To do this, go to <em>Settings -&gt; Account -&gt; Deactivate profile<\/em> and press <em>Deactivate Threads profile<\/em>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_50001\" style=\"width: 3010px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/12\/05105617\/threads-privacy-security-settings-17-EN.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50001\" src=\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2023\/12\/05105617\/threads-privacy-security-settings-17-EN.jpg\" alt=\"Deleting (deactivating) your Threads profile\" width=\"3000\" height=\"2094\" class=\"size-full wp-image-50001\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-50001\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Threads profile deactivation is effectively the same as deletion<\/p><\/div>\n<h2>Password is the staff of life<\/h2>\n<p>The fact that your Instagram account data is now used for two social networks instead of one has an important consequence: your login and password are now twice as important. So now your Instagram account needs to be properly protected against takeover more than ever. Do the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Use a password that\u2019s both unique and strong. In general, strong means long \u2014 at least 12 characters or more. You can generate a good password using our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/password-manager?icid=gl_kdailyplacehold_acq_ona_smm__onl_b2c_kasperskydaily_wpplaceholder____kpm___\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Kaspersky Password Manager<\/a>, which also doubles as secure password storage, lest you forget your password.<\/li>\n<li>Enable two-factor authentication. It\u2019s best to use one-time codes from the app. By the way, our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/password-manager?icid=gl_kdailyplacehold_acq_ona_smm__onl_b2c_kasperskydaily_wpplaceholder____kpm___\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Kaspersky Password Manager<\/a> now features a built-in authenticator.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<input type=\"hidden\" class=\"category_for_banner\" value=\"kpm-download\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s how to set up Threads to make your profile both private and secure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2726,"featured_media":48705,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1788],"tags":[765,363,43,97,835,1162,131],"class_list":{"0":"post-48704","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-privacy","8":"tag-instagram","9":"tag-personal-data","10":"tag-privacy","11":"tag-security-2","12":"tag-settings","13":"tag-threads","14":"tag-tips"},"hreflang":[{"hreflang":"x-default","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/threads-privacy-security-settings\/48704\/"},{"hreflang":"en-in","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.in\/blog\/threads-privacy-security-settings\/26022\/"},{"hreflang":"en-ae","url":"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/threads-privacy-security-settings\/21474\/"},{"hreflang":"en-us","url":"https:\/\/usa.kaspersky.com\/blog\/threads-privacy-security-settings\/28712\/"},{"hreflang":"en-gb","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.uk\/blog\/threads-privacy-security-settings\/26334\/"},{"hreflang":"ru","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.ru\/blog\/threads-privacy-security-settings\/35822\/"},{"hreflang":"ru-kz","url":"https:\/\/blog.kaspersky.kz\/threads-privacy-security-settings\/26618\/"},{"hreflang":"en-au","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/threads-privacy-security-settings\/32307\/"},{"hreflang":"en-za","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/threads-privacy-security-settings\/31990\/"}],"acf":[],"banners":"","maintag":{"url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/tag\/settings\/","name":"settings"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48704"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50010,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48704\/revisions\/50010"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}