Musk was due to be appointed to the Twitter board on Saturday, but the world’s richest man informed the company on the day that he would not actually take the board.
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Twitter has reached a $ 150 million agreement with the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission for alleged misrepresentations of its data privacy practices, the agencies said Wednesday.
The agreement, which has yet to be approved by a federal judge, will resolve the government’s claims that Twitter has not adequately informed its users about how their contact information will be used to target ads rather than simply protect their accounts. , in violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act and the 2011 agreement it reached with the agency.
In a lawsuit accompanying the announcement of the agreement, the government accused Twitter of misrepresenting the level of its security and protecting the confidentiality of non-public consumer contact information between at least May 2013 and September 2019.
Agencies say Twitter told users that it collects phone numbers and email addresses to protect its accounts with two-factor authentication, but did not reveal that it also uses that information to help advertisers target their messages. They also accused Twitter of falsely claiming that it complied with international data protection frameworks, which prohibited companies from processing user data for purposes they did not authorize.
In a statement announcing the agreement, FTC President Lina Hahn said the alleged Twitter breaches affected more than 140 million Twitter users.
As part of the agreement, Twitter will also need to install new compliance measures, including creating a comprehensive privacy program, conducting a privacy review and a written report before deploying any new product or service that collects personal user information and testing it regularly. data privacy protection. In addition, it will have to undergo regular independent evaluations of its data confidentiality program. The DOJ and the FTC will be responsible for complying with the settlement conditions.
Justice Ministry Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said in a statement: “The $ 150 million fine reflects the seriousness of the allegations against Twitter, and the significant new enforcement measures that will be imposed as a result of today’s agreement will help prevent more -further misleading tactics that threaten consumers. ‘confidentiality.’
The $ 150 million fine represents about 3% of Twitter’s 2021 revenue of $ 5.08 billion.
The agreement is the latest attempt by US law enforcement to apply consumer protection law to alleged breaches of data privacy. In 2019, the FTC filed a privacy lawsuit against Facebook for a record $ 5 billion. But critics at the time said it was still not enough, given that the figure represents about 9% of the company’s revenue in 2018, and said it was a blow to the wrist that would boost technology companies. to take similar risks again.
Twitter did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
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