Twitter fined $150m in US for selling users' data

Law enforcement officials in the US accused the company of illegally using users' data to help sell targeted ads.

According to court documents, the FTC and the Department of Justice say that the company violated an agreement with regulators.

Personal information like phone numbers and email addresses will not be given to advertisers.

The social media company broke the rules.

In December of 2020, the company was fined 400,000 dollars for violating Europe's data privacy rules.

The FTC is an independent agency of the US government and it's mission is to enforce anti-trust law and promote consumer protection.

The FTC prohibited the company from misrepresenting its privacy and security practices.

Most of the revenue from advertising on the platform comes from consumers, celebrities and corporations.

According to a complaint filed by the Department of Justice on behalf of the FTC, in order to improve account security, users were asked to provide either a phone number or email address.

As the complaint notes, the data was obtained on the pretext of being used for security, but ended up being used to target users with ads.

More than 140 million users were affected by this practice.

Ian Reynolds, managing director of computer security firm Secure Team, told the British Broadcasting Corporation that the social network is violating the trust that their users have in their platform by using their private information to their own advantage and increasing their own revenue.

He said that they led their customers into a false sense of security by acquiring their data, but ended up using it to target their users with ads.

This reality shows the power that companies still have over your data and that there is a long way to go before users can be comfortable knowing that they have full control over their own digital footprint.

People are required to provide a telephone number and email address in order toauthenticate an account.

The information helps people reset their passwords, as well as enable two-factor authentication.

A phone number or email address can be used to send a two-factor authentication code to users in order to log into the service.

According to the FTC, until at least September of this year, it was also using that information to boost its advertising business.

It is accused of allowing advertisers access to users.

In addition to the fine, it must also be a part of the account.

• stop using the phone numbers and email addresses it illegally collected
• notify users about its improper use of security information
• tell users about the FTC law enforcement action
• explain how to turn off personalised adverts and review multi-factor authentication settings
• provide multi-factor authentication options that do not need a phone number
• implement an enhanced privacy and security programme which includes reporting incidents to the FTC within 30 days

Vanita Gupta, the US associate attorney general, said that the Department of Justice is committed to protecting the privacy of consumers.

The proposed settlement will help prevent further misleading tactics that threaten users' privacy, and the $150m penalty reflects the seriousness of the allegations.