Microblogging social media Twitter has agreed to pay $150 million in a settlement with the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to end allegations that it misused users’ private information to target advertising on the grounds that would be used for security measures, according to court documents.
In the case file, the agreement also covers allegations made by Twitter when it mistakenly portrayed the “security and privacy” of user data in the period between May 2013 and September 2019. In addition to the monetary part, best practices of compliance were also required from the social network. .
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According to the complaints, the false statements violated the FTC Act and a 2011 agreement with the regulatory agency. “Specifically, while Twitter represented users that it collected their phone numbers and email addresses to secure their accounts, Twitter did not disclose that it also used users’ contact information to help advertisers reach their target audience.” said the complaint.
“Twitter obtained user data under the guise of leveraging it for security purposes, but then ended up using the data to target users with ads,” FTC President Lina Khan said in a statement. “This practice has affected more than 140 million Twitter users while increasing Twitter’s main source of revenue.”
In a statement, Twitter’s chief privacy officer Damien Kieran said that with the agreement “we align with the agency on operational updates and program improvements” to protect users’ privacy and security.
On Wednesday (25), the date on which the agreement documents were filed, Elon Musk, who is buying the social network for 44 million and against the will of Tesla shareholders, commented on the social media company’s advertising practices and the fine. “If Twitter wasn’t true here, what else isn’t true? This is very concerning,” Musk criticized in a tweet.
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Twitter advertising revenue
In 2019, Twitter’s revenue hit $3.4 billion, according to US officials. $3 billion would come from advertising alone.
In 2021, revenue was even higher: $5 billion — of which $150 million had been set aside earlier in the month after agreeing “in principle” to the FTC penalty.
Privacy Shield Compliance
In addition to the complaint about violations of US law, the document includes allegations that Twitter had falsely claimed to comply with the EU-US and Swiss-US Privacy Shield. The legislation prevents companies from using data not authorized by consumers.
The agreement to assuage complaints about misuse of personal information in exchange for advertising against Big Tech companies is not new. In 2019, Meta struck a $5 billion settlement with the FTC to settle a claim over the collection of phone numbers, allegedly intended for the security of 2FA accounts, to serve ads.
with information from Reuters and Value Invests
