Twitter just paid a $150 million fine to the FTC for their use of user data for targeted advertising as they had for years used Twitter users’ phone numbers and email addresses [put in two-factor authentication] to serve targeted ads. The company previously said at the time that their use of phone numbers for advertisements was an error and that it was not certain how many users were affected by this. FTC Chair Lina Khan said that nearly 140 million users were affected by this between 2014 and 2019 which also violated a previous agreement Twitter had with the FTC dating back to 2011, prohibiting the company from misrepresenting privacy and security practices.
CPO Damien Kieran said in a statement that Twitter has “cooperated with the FTC every step of the way. This issue was addressed as of September 17, 2019, and today we want to reiterate the work we’ll continue to do to protect the privacy and security of the people who use Twitter. In reaching this settlement, we have paid a $150M penalty, and we have aligned with the agency on operational updates and program enhancements to ensure that people’s data remains secure and their privacy protected.”
According to the new FTC order, including the fine, Twitter will also have to notify all the users whose phone numbers and emails were collected for account security being used for advertisements also requiring them to make two-factor authentication available via other methods.
