Twitter, Inc., $150,000,000
Twitter used phone numbers and email addresses collected for account security to target advertising, the same practice that was supposed to end under its 2011 FTC order.
Case identifiers
- Respondent
- Twitter, Inc.
- Agency
- Federal Trade Commission
- Announced
- 2022-05-25
- Monetary relief
- $150,000,000
- Case number
- FTC Matter No. 202-3062
- Statutes cited
- FTC Act § 5 · Violation of 2011 FTC consent order
Key facts
- 1
Twitter collected phone numbers and email addresses from ~140 million users, telling them the information would be used for account security.
- 2
Twitter then used that same information to match users with advertisers for targeted ads.
- 3
$150 million civil penalty plus sweeping order requiring multi-factor authentication.
- 4
Second major FTC privacy order for Twitter, built on 2011 predecessor.
What the order requires
Injunctive terms imposed by the Federal Trade Commission. These bind Twitter, Inc.'s data practices going forward.
- Prohibition on using phone numbers and emails collected for security to serve targeted ads.
- Required notice to users about the unauthorized use.
- Implementation of a privacy and information security program with external assessments.
- Offer multi-factor authentication that does not require a phone number.
Primary sources
Read the original government documents. These are the authoritative records, everything on this page is derived from them.
- Federal Trade Commission press releasehttps://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2022/05/ftc-charges-twitter-deceptively-using-account-security-data-sell-targeted-ads
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Where this action sits in the tracker
- It is one of 19 FTC actions among the 26 cases in this tracker.
- Of the 19 tracked actions with monetary relief, $150,000,000 ranks number 3 by amount.
- 5 tracked actions were announced in 2022.
- It is one of 7 tracked deceptive-advertising actions.
- It is one of 6 tracked adtech actions.
FAQ
What did the FTC charge Twitter, Inc. with?+
Twitter used phone numbers and email addresses collected for account security to target advertising, the same practice that was supposed to end under its 2011 FTC order. The Federal Trade Commission cited FTC Act § 5, Violation of 2011 FTC consent order.
How much did Twitter, Inc. pay?+
Twitter, Inc. had monetary relief of $150,000,000, announced on 2022-05-25. The settlement also imposed injunctive terms (see below).
Does the Twitter, Inc. settlement mean my data has been deleted?+
No, the order does not automatically delete your data. You retain any rights available under applicable state privacy law (CCPA, CPA, TDPSA, VCDPA, and others) to submit your own deletion request. OfflistMe can generate a user-reviewed request draft pre-addressed to the respondent’s privacy contact.
How can I read the original FTC order?+
The Federal Trade Commission press release is available at https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2022/05/ftc-charges-twitter-deceptively-using-account-security-data-sell-targeted-ads. The case / matter number is FTC Matter No. 202-3062.