Twitter inadvertently uses private user data for advertising
Twitter, the microblogging service, used private user data—which was actually intended for security purposes—for advertising. The online company announced this on Tuesday.
According to the report, telephone numbers and email addresses used to authenticate Twitter accounts were inadvertently used for advertising. The user data had been matched with that of advertising companies to enable targeted advertising. "This was a mistake and we apologize," Twitter continued on Tuesday.
The short message service claimed that the data had not been shared with partners outside the company. However, it remained unclear how many Twitter users were affected. The problem had already been fixed in mid-September. Large online companies such as Twitter and Facebook are always criticized for their handling of private user data. (SDA)
