May 27, 2022
Twitter fined $150m in US for selling users' data
Twitter in the US must pay a $150m fine after law enforcement officials accused it of illegally using users' data to help sell targeted ads. "As the complaint notes, Twitter obtained data from users on the pretext of harnessing it for security purposes, but then ended up also using the data to target users with ads," said Lina Khan, who chairs the FTC. "This practice affected more than 140 million Twitter users, while boosting Twitter's primary source of revenue." Ian Reynolds, managing director of computer security firm Secure Team, told the BBC: "Once again, Twitter 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." According to the FTC, until at least September 2019, Twitter was also using that information to boost its advertising business. "The $150m penalty reflects the seriousness of the allegations against Twitter, and the substantial new compliance measures to be imposed as a result of the proposed settlement will help prevent further misleading tactics that threaten users' privacy.
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