WASHINGTON (Washington Insider Magazine) – To resolve federal regulators’ charges that Twitter failed to secure the privacy of users’ data during a 6-year period, the social media company will pay a $150 million fine and implement new safeguards.
On Wednesday, the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice reached a settlement with Twitter. Twitter allegedly breached a 2011 FTC ruling by misleading users about the security and privacy of their nonpublic contact details, according to the authorities.
Twitter informed customers that it was gathering their email addresses and phone numbers for account safety purposes from May 2013 to September 2019. However, the government claims that it failed to mention that it would also utilize the data to enable corporations to send targeted web adverts to platform users.
In a federal lawsuit brought Wednesday, the regulators also said that Twitter falsely asserted to comply with US privacy accords with Switzerland and the European Union, which restrict corporations from processing user data for reasons other than those permitted by users.
The San Francisco-based corporation boasts a global user base of more than 229 million people.
According to ABC NEWS, the $150 million fine and required new compliance safeguards under the deal must be authorized by a federal court in California.
According to the FTC’s 2011 decision, Twitter’s data protection had major flaws that enabled hackers to take unlawful administrative command of Twitter, particularly access to nonpublic user data.
In November, Twitter announced the establishment of a new data governance council within the corporation.
The settlement was announced on the same day as Twitter’s annual stockholders meeting. For weeks, the controversy surrounding Tesla owner Elon Musk’s proposed $44 billion acquisition of Twitter has engulfed the company. Musk, who is one of Twitter’s top stockholders, amended his proposed acquisition financing strategy on Wednesday, giving investors hope that the acquisition may still go through.
Because of its open nature, simple interface, and in-the-moment immediacy, Twitter has unprecedented influence on society, news, and politics. Several experts are concerned that Musk may loosen content-moderation regulations, which guard against violent threats, hate speech, and white supremacy. After the attack on the US Capitol in January 2021, the website notably banned former President Donald Trump.
