Twitter Could Pay $250 Million for Using Private Information for Advertising
Twitter could be paying a hefty fine to the U.S. FTC for its use of private information (phone numbers and emails) in targeted advertising campaigns. This fine comes after the FTC filed a complaint against Twitter for using “phone number and/or email address data provided for safety and security purposes for targeted advertising during periods between 2013 and 2019”.
Many Twitter users have voluntarily submitted both their phone number and email to better secure their accounts with two-factor authentication. Usually when creating an account. But the users had no idea their information would be used in advertising campaigns. Twitter has now stopped requiring users to submit their phone number.
Twitter has said that its most recent breach has affected its business with advertisers. This is an issue that has occurred with many other social media companies, for example, the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal.
Protect your email
Email inboxes are the most common entry-point for ransomware attacks. Twitter being caught distributing private information like email addresses means that cybercriminals most likely have access to this information now too. Especially with the recent Twitter data breach, nobody knows what kind of information has been stolen.
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