Twitter will pay $ 150 million to settle a privacy lawsuit with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The deal, announced today, covers a complaint that Twitter fraudulently used members’ email addresses and phone numbers for targeted advertising. In addition to the fine, Twitter must also accept audits of its data privacy program, among other restrictions.
The lawsuit alleges that Twitter misrepresented its policies to users between 2013 and 2019, in violation of both the FTC Act and an order in a previous agreement in 2011. The company encouraged users to add a phone number or a email address to enable security measures such as two-factor authentication. In reality, however, Twitter also incorporated this information into its ad targeting data. He apologized for the practice in 2019, saying he had “inadvertently” channeled addresses and numbers into his ad system. The complaint also alleges that during this period, Twitter falsely claimed to comply with the EU-US and Switzerland-US privacy shield frameworks, which restricted how companies could reuse user data.
“The $ 150 million fine reflects the seriousness of the allegations against Twitter.”
“The $ 150 million sanction reflects the seriousness of the allegations against Twitter, and the substantial new enforcement measures that will be imposed as a result of today’s proposed deal will help prevent more misleading tactics that threaten the privacy of Twitter users. users, “said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta in a statement. The FTC targeted Facebook for a similar practice in 2019, fining the company $ 5 billion for this and other privacy violations.
The new enforcement measures will require Twitter to maintain a “complete” privacy and information security program, and must conduct periodic testing and audits of its safeguards. You must also notify anyone who joined Twitter before September 2019 of the agreement after a federal court approves it.
Twitter’s head of privacy, Damien Kieran, acknowledged the deal in a blog post and in a tweet. “Our agreement with the FTC reflects Twitter’s pre-existing commitments and investments in security and privacy,” Kieran tweeted. “We will continue to work with our regulators to make sure they understand how security and privacy practices on Twitter are always evolving to improve.”