INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Twitter today is launching a new resource that aims to serve as the central place for everything related to the company efforts around
privacy and data protection
The new site, the Twitter Privacy Center, will host information about Twitter initiatives, announcements and new privacy products, as well
as other communication about security incidents.
The company says it wanted to create a centralized resource so it would be easier to find
all the information about Twitter work in this area
However, the impacts of Europe data protection regulation, GDPR, likely also spurred Twitter efforts on this front, along with other data
laws.
For its own purposes, Twitter now needs to have a more organized approach to consumer data privacy
As a result, it makes sense to put Twitter work and announcements onto a consumer-facing site that easy to navigate and use.
Today we are
updating our Terms and Privacy Policy and launching the Twitter Privacy Center
These updates are backed by an evolving privacy and data protection program intended to keep us accountable and your data safe
Read more about it here: https://t.co/IykRanR61Q
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) December 2, 2019
The new Twitter Privacy Center
splits information between what aimed at users and what for partners
On the latter front, it has dedicated pages for GDPR, CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) and Global DPA (Data Processing Addendum), for
example.
The users& section, meanwhile, directs visitors to Twitter Terms, Privacy Policy, Account Settings, Service Providers and more.
In
its newly updated policies, Twitter says the entity serving the EU, or European Economic Area, is Twitter International Company, not Twitter
This entity already exists but Twitter is now moving people outside of the E.U
from Twitter International
This change gives Twitter the ability to test features and settings for E.U
It also allows Twitter to provide these users with a different set of controls outside of its main product.
For example, Twitter says it may
test additional opt-in or opt-out preferences, prompts or other requirements for advertisements
Some of this work may make its way back to Twitter eventually.
Twitter new Terms also clarify that its intellectual property license says
that the content users provide may be curated, transformed and translated by Twitter.
Plus, Twitter Privacy Policy has been modified with
clarifications around how Twitter processes data, how tweets are shared with developers and other changes.
In its announcement, Twitter
spins its history a bit by saying how privacy has been its focus since the service creation in 2006
That a funny stance, given its product has been that of a public social media platform, not a private one — a sort of public SMS, in
fact.
Twitter notes how users are able to be anonymous on its platform, a feature it says was built with privacy in mind
In reality, Twitter creation was inspired by SMS, but Twitter remained an ambiguous product for years, until its user base grew and figured
out what they wanted Twitter to be
Much of what Twitter is today — even its conventions like the @ mention and the retweet — grew organically, not by design.
The company
announcement today also states its privacy and data protection work going forward will be focused on three key areas: 1) to fix Twitter
technical debt — meaning upgrading older systems to support their current uses; 2) to build privacy into all new products it launches; and
3) accountability.
Products now go through reviews by Twitter Information Security, Product and Privacy Counsel teams and its independent
Office of Data Protection ahead of launch
In addition, Twitter Data Protection Officer, Damien Kieran, will provide to Twitter board of directors every quarter an independent
assessment of all privacy and data protection-related work to ensure Twitter remains on track.
&It so common to hear tech companies say:
‘Privacy is not a privilege; it is a fundamental right& that those words have become a cliche
People have become desensitized to hearing companies say, ‘we value your privacy,& and are worn out from being asked to accept privacy
policies that they rarely, if ever, even read,& read Twitter announcement about the launch of the new Twitter Privacy Center, jointly
authored by both Kieran and Twitter Product Lead, Kayvon Beykpour.
&Many companies make these declarations without even showing people what
actions they are taking to protect their privacy
And let be honest, we have room for improvement, too,& it stated.
Everyone on Twitter should have meaningful controls over what data they
share with us and a clear understanding of how it used and when it shared.https://t.co/2HPNTPcevT
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety)
