Twitter to pay USD 150 mln over user data privacy

The regulatory bodies claim Twitter didn’t comply with a 2011 FTC order and deceived users about how it protected the privacy and security of non-public contact information, between May 2013 and September 2019. Throughout the time, Twitter told its users that it collected their email addresses and phone numbers for account security purposes but failed to disclose that it also used the information to enable companies to send targeted online ads to users on the platform. 

Moreover, Twitter falsely claimed that it complied with US privacy agreement with the European Union and Switzerland which prohibit companies from processing users’ personal data in any other ways than the one specified and authorised by them.