Twitter has raised $150 million to settle a privacy lawsuit with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for misleadingly using the email addresses and phone numbers of at least 140 million users for targeted advertising. has agreed to pay. According to the FTC, Twitter solicited personal information from users for the express purpose of securing their accounts, but then “also used it to serve targeted ads to Twitter’s financial gain”.
“It was not of twitter The first alleged violation of the FTC Act, but it will cost the company $150 million in civil penalties,” the FTC said in a statement late Wednesday. The case dates back to 2010 when the FTC filed a complaint against Twitter. In that case, Twitter told users that users can control who has access to their tweets and that their private messages can only be seen by the recipients.
But according to the FTC, Twitter didn’t have proper security measures in place to ensure users’ choices were respected. To settle that matter, the company agreed to an order that became final in 2011, which would impose substantial financial penalties if it was further misrepresented “to the extent that [Twitter] Maintains and protects the security, confidentiality, confidentiality or integrity of any non-public consumer information.”
“The just announced $150 million civil penalty stems from a new complaint filed by the Justice Department on behalf of the FTC, alleging that Twitter collected customers’ personal information for the alleged purpose of security in an earlier case. infringed upon and are then commercially exploiting it,” the FTC said.
From May 2013 to September 2019, Twitter prompted users to provide their telephone numbers or email addresses for security purposes, such as enabling multi-factor authentication.
Twitter also told people that it would use their personal data to help with account recovery (for example, if users forgot their passwords) or if Twitter detected suspicious activity on a person’s account. , to re-enable full access.
The FTC said Twitter prompted people to provide their phone numbers and email addresses by claiming that the company’s purpose, for example, was to “protect your account.”
Twitter further encouraged users to provide that information because “an extra layer of security helps ensure that you and only you can access your Twitter account.”
In fact, in addition to using people’s phone numbers and email addresses for protective purposes as claimed by the company, Twitter also used the information to serve people targeted ads – ads that have helped Twitter become rich by millions. did.
During the time period covered by the complaint, more than 140 million users gave their email addresses or phone numbers to Twitter for security purposes.
In addition to imposing a $150 million civil fine for violating a 2011 order, the new order prohibited Twitter from using illegally collected phone numbers and email addresses to serve ads.
“Twitter must notify users of inappropriate use of phone numbers and email addresses, inform them of FTC law enforcement action, and explain how they can turn off personalized ads,” the US agency said. and review your multi-factor authentication settings.”
Twitter will also have to provide a multi-factor authentication option that doesn’t require people to provide phone numbers, it said, adding that violating FTC orders would result in substantial fines.
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