Twitter admits sharing user data without their permission
Twitter admitted Tuesday it may have shared user data with advertisers without users’ permission.
The social media company said in a web post that the problem began in May 2018, and that it fixed the problem on Monday, though it did not specify how many users were affected.
“We are still conducting our investigation to determine who may have been impacted and if we discover more information that is useful we will share it,” the company wrote.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TWTR | NO DATA AVAILABLE | - | - | - |
Users have the option of denying Twitter permission to share information about their interests and ads they have viewed with the company’s advertisers. That can be done by finding the “Personalization and data” page in Twitter settings, and then unchecking the box that reads “Share your data with Twitter’s business partners.”
Twitter stressed that none of the shared information included emails or passwords.
“You trust us to follow your choices and we failed here,” Twitter wrote. “We’re sorry this happened, and are taking steps to make sure we don’t make a mistake like this again.”
CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX BUSINESS APP
The admission comes as social media companies are under increased pressure from the U.S. government to give users more control and transparency on how their data is used.