This archive report was first published on 9 October 2019.
Twitter has faced criticism for its handling of user data, with the latest controversy surrounding the use of phone numbers and email addresses meant for account security for targeted advertising.
According to the company, users who provided their email addresses or phone numbers for safety or security purposes may have had their data inadvertently used for advertising purposes.
"When you provided an email address or phone number for safety or security purposes this data may have inadvertently been used for advertising purposes," Twitter said in an online post.
Twitter users' phone numbers and email addresses were matched with advertisers' own data to enable targeted ads, but none of the user data was shared with partners outside the company.
The issue was fixed in mid-September, and Twitter has apologized for the error, stating that they are taking steps to prevent similar mistakes in the future.
"We're very sorry this happened and are taking steps to make sure we don’t make a mistake like this again," Twitter said.
