Twitter faces $250 million fine for using phone numbers and emails for targeted ads

Twitter is expecting a fine of up to $250 million USD (about $335 million CAD) due to privacy violations that occurred last year.

The social media giant is being investigated by the Federal Trade Commission in the U.S. since last October over the use of personal data for targeted ads.

The FTC is investigating Twitter’s “use of phone number and/or email address data provided for safety and security purposes for targeted advertising during periods between 2013 and 2019.”

Twitter is now warning investors that it could be faced with a fine between $150 million USD (about $201 million CAD) and $250 million USD (roughly $335 million CAD) following the conclusion of the investigation. It has set aside $150 million USD to cover the minimum fine it could face.

In a blog post from last year, Twitter revealed that it may have inadvertently matched users’ personal information like phone numbers and email addresses with marketing lists uploaded by advertisers. It said that it stopped this as of September 17th, 2019.

Twitter is not the only social media giant that has faced these allegations from the FTC, as Facebook was ordered to pay $5 billion USD (about $6.7 billion CAD) for numerous privacy missteps.

Via: Engadget