My Instagram stories have been flooded with friends posting about the new Clubhouse App. The app is currently invite only, so when a friend sent me an invite I was curious to check it out-a decision I would come to regret. I now see this marketing ploy to create exclusivity as an attempt to shift attention from some very real problems with Clubhouse.
What is Clubhouse?
As found on their website:
“Clubhouse is a new type of social network based on voice—where people around the world come together(in audio only chat rooms) to talk, listen and learn from each other in real-time.”
However the concept of a voice only social network is not new— the app Stationhead did it long before them, combining talk-only stations with streaming music from Spotify and Apple (which clubhouse does not offer, you can’t play music without hitting up against copyright infringement issues).
Its founders said Sunday that the app had 2 million users, huge growth from just a few months before. This week, investors valued the not-yet-one-year-old service at $1 billion.
So what’s the problem? In order to use Clubhouse you must first provide your phone number, they also want your real name. Then it asks for access to your contacts to see which of your friends are on Clubhouse. It accesses every single contact saved in your phone and for those who have Clubhouse it proceeds to display their photos on the home screen of the app.
When you open the app you are confronted with the photos of old dates, coworkers, that guy who won’t stop messaging you, friends you had a falling out with, acquaintances and your exes. As someone who got out of an abusive relationship a couple of years ago it was triggering to see the faces of my ex’s friends as soon as I opened Clubhouse. I tried disconnecting my address book in my phone settings but it continued to show their faces.
What I found even more disturbing was that when they opened the app, they might be looking at my face in the same way with the option to see my photo, my profile, who follows me and who I follow. If I, as most have, had connected my Instagram and Twitter-they could directly click through to my profiles. Every single person who has ever had my phone number would have immediate access to my profile without my consent. They could find me and listen to me in rooms. They could screen record what I say. Even if you have Blocked someone on your phone for safety reasons, it feels compromising and invasive that if they join Clubhouse they can immediately find you.
My ex hadn’t created an account yet, so I couldn’t even block him as I have on other social networks. I feel like it is just a matter of time before he joins his friends.
Blocking is an imperfect solution anyways, on Clubhouse all it does is keep the person out of rooms where you are “on stage”. They can still join the chat rooms you are in and hear what you are saying otherwise. It’s not enough. One thing that happens to me with Blocking is that creepy men block me before I can block them, then they briefly unblock me and send me awful messages and then re-block me before I can block them(on repeat). It’s awful. As someone who had to file a police report a couple of months ago when a stranger threatened me in a message-I take my security seriously.
Considering the hate speech and moderation issues Clubhouse has had, I know I’m not the only one with these concerns. Given the all recent press on privacy issues with other social media apps you’d think Clubhouse would have learned something. Clearly they have not.
You can’t make your profile private in Clubhouse which makes sense because you’d then be invisible in the chat rooms able to see everyone else. That would not be right.
So what is the solution? There should be an option to disallow people from finding you through your phone number.
As this is currently not an option, I began to feel anxious. I decided I would rather not risk my personal safety and privacy on Clubhouse. I clicked the settings wheel in my profile but did not see an option to delete it-I looked around and could not find one. I Googled it and apparently Clubhouse does not allow you to delete your own profile/account. This is highly unethical.
Below you can see the screenshot I took on the Clubhouse website on 1-23-2021 at 6:38pm PST. I am no longer able to find any information from Clubhouse on how to delete your account.
I followed the above instructions and confirmed my e-mail. I then e-mailed Clubhouse 6 days ago to request they delete my account immediately. I have heard nothing back. I made my profile photo blank. I cannot change my phone number associated with my profile. I deleted the app on my phone but I want my account deleted.
If you are thinking of signing up for Clubhouse, first consider if you would want every single person who has ever had access to your phone number to find you on there, learn your real name and listen in on you?