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Twitter on the New York Stock Exchange: Price has risen again
Photo: JUSTIN LANE / EPA
Twitter fined $150 million for privacy violations
The US Department of Justice announced a corresponding agreement with the group on Wednesday.
The authorities accuse the platform of having deceived its users from 2013 to 2019: Twitter concealed the fact that it used mobile phone numbers and email addresses stored for two-factor authentication to help companies send personalized advertising switch.
Twitter not only used the numbers and e-mail addresses to protect user accounts, but also "to target users with advertising," said the head of the US competition authority, Lina Khan.
A total of 140 million users were affected.
Twitter acknowledged the allegations in a statement.
"Some of the email addresses and phone numbers provided for security purposes could inadvertently be used for promotional purposes," said Damien Kieran, head of privacy.
The problem was "fixed" in September 2019.
At the time, Twitter had only given incomplete information about the incident for weeks.
Security experts feared that the process itself and its public processing could weaken the trust of users in the fundamentally recommended two-factor authentication.
The agreement, which still has to be approved by a judge, also stipulates that the company will improve its privacy practices.
Among other things, it must introduce a “comprehensive information security program”.
Any new service that involves the collection of personal data must first undergo various independent tests.
In the past, Facebook has also used mobile phone numbers intended for two-factor authentication for advertising purposes.
A Facebook spokesman said at the time that anyone who was bothered by this should choose a different method instead of SMS codes.
Mask plans to take over Twitter with more equity
Twitter recently made headlines, mainly due to the takeover bid by Tesla founder Elon Musk.
On Wednesday he now announced that he or his partners want to use more of their own funds for the takeover.
According to a document filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday, they now want to raise $33.5 billion out of their own pockets.
The amount of the loans was reduced from $25.5 billion to $13 billion.
This significantly reduces the anticipated financial burden on the company from the takeover.
Following the announcement, Twitter's share price rose more than five percent in after-hours electronic trading.
This has fluctuated wildly for weeks due to the numerous twists and turns in the takeover battle, but recently lost a lot of value after doubts about the seriousness of Musk's offer.
Musk is reportedly negotiating with existing shareholders to participate in the acquisition.
In this way, he could reduce the total of the loans without having to increase his own contribution.
pbe/AFP