Clubhouse controversy, criticism & privacy issues: Is Clubhouse safe?

Clubhouse is a new social media app that is attracting increasing controversies and criticism – partly because the app can only be used by invitation. In this article, you’ll find all the information you need to know about the controversial mobile app.

Clubhouse controversy – general points of criticism

There are some aspects that can be criticized about Clubhouse. Since the user share has increased significantly in the last few months, the app is being discussed more and more.

• One point of criticism is that an essential point of Clubhouse is exclusivity. This means that certain groups of people are excluded from the start.
• At the moment, Clubhouse cannot be used on Android. However, the operators have announced that an Android version will follow.
• Hatespeech, racism as well as harassment were a big problem in some rooms.
• It is problematic that the operator of the app hardly intervenes in discussions.
• For some time, users did not even have the opportunity to report grievances and problems to the operator.
• In the meantime, however, there are community guidelines and a reporting function.
• The Federation of German Consumer Organizations complains that the platform does not have an imprint. This is a violation of the General Data Protection Regulation.

Is Clubhouse safe? Privacy at Clubhouse

A major controversy in the Clubhouse debate is privacy issues.

• Since the app can only be accessed via invites, the app requires access to contact information.
• Thus, Clubhouse also gets access to contact information of people who do not use the app at all.
• When signing up, users have to enter another social media account to authenticate themselves.
• The app operators are relatively opaque about what it does with contact and account information.
• It is also problematic that the contact data is transferred to US servers and conversations are recorded there.
• Furthermore, there is no German privacy policy.
• Users’ profiles obviously show who sent the invitation to them. With increased activity, users can also receive additional invites.
• Users can set up their profile however they want, add personal info, and link additional accounts like TikTok, Instagram, or Facebook.