What happened? The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on May 25 imposed a $150 million fine on Twitter and certain other conditions regarding its privacy practices. What for? "Twitter asked users to give their phone numbers and email addresses to protect their accounts. The firm then profited by allowing advertisers to use this data to target specific users," the FTC said. Tell me more: A complaint filed by the Department of Justice on behalf of the FTC alleged that in 2013, Twitter began asking users to provide either a phone number or email address for purposes like enabling two-factor authentication and helping reset passwords. As a result, between 2014 to 2019, more than 140 million Twitter users provided their phone numbers or email addresses. But Twitter did not disclose to users that their numbers would not only be used for security-related purposes but also for targeted advertising. "Twitter used the phone numbers and email addresses to allow advertisers to target specific ads to specific consumers by matching the information with data they already had or obtained from data brokers," the FTC said. Twitter had apologised for this practice in 2019 stating that "data may have inadvertently been used for advertising purposes." Twitter earns nearly 90 percent of its revenue from advertising. Why is what Twitter did illegal? Violates FTC Act and 2011 FTC order: "Twitter’s deceptive use of user email addresses and phone numbers violated the FTC Act and the 2011 Commission order, which stemmed from FTC allegations that the company deceived consumers and put their privacy at…
