Twitter Could Face up to $250M Fine for Using Users' Data to Target Ads

By Mary Anne R. First Posted: Aug 04, 2020 01:24 AM EDT

Twitter announced that it could face up to $250 million as a fine to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for using users' phone numbers and email addresses for advertising gains, according to a CNN report.

Last month, Twitter received a complaint from the FTC over allegations that it had used data given by users for safety and safety purposes for targeting advertisements during the years 2013 and 2019.

Twitter said the complaint could result in a loss of around $150 million and $250 million. In October last year, the social media giant said it had "inadvertently" targeted users through their contact details provided as part of security measures.

Social media users were asked to give their contact details, such as phone numbers, to help protect their accounts with two-factor authentication.

The FTC did not immediately comment on the issue. The agency previously sought a $5 billion settlement with Facebook, which was considered the agency's largest fine.

Twitter and Ads Targeting

In a CNN report published in October last year, Twitter claimed that it "accidentally" used phone numbers and email addresses to target ads. The social media company stressed that it was an "error."

"We cannot say with certainty how many people were impacted by this, but in an effort to be transparent, we wanted to make everyone aware," Twitter said in a report. The company added that there was no personal data shared externally.

The social media company said they were very sorry that this happened, adding that they are taking steps to ensure they do not make the same mistake again.

Google and YouTube FTC Fines

Google LLC and its subsidiary YouTube LLC faced a record of $170 million settlements over allegations that the video-sharing service YouTube was said to illegally collect personal information from children without their parents' consent, according to a press release by FTC.

Google and YouTube paid $136 million to the FTC and $34 million to New York due to violation of Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. According to FTC and New York Attorney General, YouTube collected personal information through persistent identifiers to track users. It can be done without first notifying parents and getting their consent.

YouTube earned millions of dollars by using identifiers, also known as cookies, to send targeted ads to the viewers of these channels. FTC Chairman Joe Simons said YouTube is promoted for its popularity among children.

"Yet when it came to complying with COPPA, the company refused to acknowledge that portions of its platform were clearly directed to kids. There's no excuse for YouTube's violations of the law," Simons noted.

Also included in the complaint was that while YouTube claimed to be a general audience site, some of their channels are child-directed and should comply with COPPA.

Several owners of channels told YouTube and Google that their channels contain some children-directed contents. YouTube served targeted advertisements on these channels despite knowledge of channels directed to children on YouTube, said the FTC press release.