Late last week, Facebook quietly announced that it is acquiring the popular GIF-creating app Giphy and potentially integrating it with Instagram. Many Giphy users expressed immediate dismay about the fate of their private data with the app. After all, Facebook doesn’t acquire other platforms without a reason. And indeed, many experts are already raising alarm bells about Facebook’s intentions with the information of Giphy’s 700 million users.

Above all else, Facebook is constantly trying to get a leg up on its rivals — and the more of its smaller competitors that the social media giant can absorb, the more control it has over our data.

“For Facebook, Giphy is a match made in heaven: Not only does the startup already get 50% of its traffic from the social media giant’s apps, but bringing it in-house provides a way to peek inside a vast swath of apps and websites beyond its own,” Medium’s One Zero wrote. “That gives Facebook an opportunity to better understand user behavior in its own apps, and beyond, and ultimately could enhance its ad-tracking capabilities further.”

Many loyal Giphy users have already begun deleting their accounts after the news. While this may seem like an extreme measure, it’s the only sure way to escape Facebook’s grasp.

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