Twitter to pay $150M fine over user data disclosure

The social network from May 2013 to September 2019 misled users about the use of personal data,US authorities say

Twitter has agreed to pay a $150 million fine following allegations of leaking sensitive data, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission said in a joint statement.

According to a lawsuit filed by the US authorities in the Northern District of California, the administration of Twitter from May 2013 to September 2019 misled users about the use of personal data. In particular, according to the departments, the social network used the phone numbers and email addresses of users, which they shared for security purposes, for targeting. More than 140 million Twitter users were affected, FTC Chair Lina Khan said.

The social network agreed to settle the matter, paying a $150 million fine and promising to take data protection measures. Thus, the administration of Twitter is obliged to develop a comprehensive program to ensure data privacy and information security and report on the introduction of any new product or service that collects personal information of users, as well as conduct regular checks of the data security system.

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In 2011, Twitter was banned from misleading users about how the social network uses data. At the time, the FTC had already identified serious data security flaws that allowed hackers to take control of Twitter, including access to sensitive user information and tweets, and the ability to send fake tweets from any account.

Twitter Data Protection Specialist Damien Kieran noted that data security and privacy is something Twitter takes seriously.

In April, Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk bought a 9.2% stake in Twitter for $2.89 billion, becoming one of the social network's largest shareholders. After that, he suggested that the owners sell Twitter to him. At the end of April, the billionaire acquired the social network for $44 billion. In mid-May, Musk suspended the deal due to a check he initiated on the number of fake subscribers and bots. After that, Twitter accused him of violating the non-disclosure agreement.

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