Twitter deceived people about how it used their personal data, FTC says

On Wednesday, federal regulators punished Twitter with a $ 150 million fine for allegedly misleading users about how the social media company used their personal data.

From May 2013 to September 2019, Twitter collected users ’email addresses and phone numbers, saying it needed the information to protect its accounts, according to the Federal Trade Commission. But the blogging service also provided that data to advertisers so they could target people, which it did not disclose, the agency said. Advertisers may link users’ phone numbers or emails to information they already have, or have purchased from data intermediaries, to target specific people.

“Twitter obtained user data under the pretext of using it for security purposes, but then also ended up using the data to target users with ads,” said FTC President Lina Khan in a statement. “This practice has affected more than 140 million Twitter users, while increasing Twitter’s main source of revenue.”

In a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday, regulators also alleged that Twitter falsely claimed to be in compliance with U.S. privacy agreements with the European Union and Switzerland, which prohibit companies from processing users’ information in ways that are not ‘adjust to user-authorized purposes.

Twitter will pay $ 150 million to pay for misleading advertising charges, as well as change its services to give users more options to verify their accounts, the FTC said.

The government fine represents about 3% of Twitter’s annual revenue. The Justice Department and the FTC announced the deal with Twitter on Wednesday.

This isn’t the first time regulators have accused Twitter of cheating on how it used people’s data. In 2011, after two breaches of data that the FTC said stemmed from Twitter’s insecurity, the FTC prevented Twitter from falsifying “the extent to which it protects the security, privacy, and confidentiality of non – public consumer information “for 20 years. The FTC and the Justice Department allege that Twitter’s latest conduct violated the 2011 order.

—Associated Press contributed to this report.