Clubhouse posted a blog called “Opening Day” on its website to inform everyone that the app is now out of beta and open to everyone. They also made a new Clubhouse logo.
Twelve never-boring months later, we’re thrilled to share that Clubhouse is now out of beta, open to everyone, and ready to begin its next chapter. This means we have removed our waitlist system so that anyone can join. If you have a club, you can post your link far and wide. If you are a creator with an audience, you can bring them all on. If you’re hosting a public event, anyone can attend. You can bring close friends, classmates, family members, coworkers, and anyone else you like – on iOS or Android.
It is my understanding that there are many people who were using Clubhouse when it was in beta, and enjoying the experience. As such, this new change will likely make them happy.
There were some big problems with Clubhouse. In February of 2021, Will Ormus posted a blog in which he provided details that make it clear that Clubhouse does not respect your privacy.
Clubhouse requires access to user’s contacts.This could include a persons doctor, acquaintances that they haven’t talked with in years, and a person’s drug dealer. Another problem is that Clubhouse will try to connect users to other users that have them in their contacts. This could be dangerous for people who have left an abusive partner, or who have been stalked by someone.
In April of 2021, CyberNews reported that Clubhouse’s SQL database containing 1.3 million user records was scraped and linked for free on a “popular hacker forum”. The information came from user profiles, and included user ID, name, photo URL, username, Twitter handle, Instagram handle, number of followers, number of people following the user, account creation date, and invited by profile name.
Clubhouse denied that the scraping had occurred, and said the public profile information in the app was viewable by anyone who can access the app.
Whether or not you choose to join Clubhouse is up to you, of course. Personally, I don’t feel that I can trust it with my contact list.