Twitter admits it may have shared users data without permission

Twitter has admitted to an accidental data glitch that may have collected and shared users’ information with advertisers, without permission to do so. In a blog post, Twitter explained that if a user clicked or viewed an advertisement for a mobile app or interacted with that app since May 2018, the app may have shared certain data with advertising partners. The data shared may have included country codes, if and when the user interacted with the ad, and other information regarding the ad.

Additionally, Twitter shared that since September 2018, the app may have shown users ads based on inferences about the specific smartphone being used. Twitter did say that this data was kept within the company, and that both glitches had been resolved by August 5th.

“We know you will want to know if you were personally affected, and how many people in total were involved. 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,” said the blog post. “You trust us to follow your choices and we failed here. We’re sorry this happened, and are taking steps to make sure we don’t make a mistake like this again.”