Why Twitter pre Musk has some problems in Ireland on privacy
Twitter faces a new investigation in Europe over the personal data leak of 5.4 million pre-Musk users. All the details
There is no peace for Twitter in the Musk era.
The San Francisco company faces an investigation in Ireland into a potential personal data breach that occurred on the social platform Twitter.
The Data Protection Commission (DPC), Ireland's Data Protection Commission, said on Friday it had decided to launch an investigation into reports that one or more datasets of users' personal information "were available on the Internet". The DPC is the main regulator for Twitter in the EU. The regular fears that the company may have violated the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Under the GDPR, the authority exercises the power to impose fines of up to 4% of a company's annual sales.
The opening of the investigation comes after data on millions of Twitter users appeared online in late November, Politico reports. Twitter confirmed in August that hackers had exploited a vulnerability in its system, which they fixed, to obtain profiles linked to phone numbers and emails and vice versa. The incident thus happened long before Elon Musk's $44 billion takeover of the social network. But global control of Twitter reached a fever pitch after the deal, Bloomberg points out. Though the alleged breaches occurred before the billionaire's buyout, the newly appointed "Chief Twit" has removed key roles at the company that oversaw regulatory compliance, prompting concerns about the social media giant's ability to protect user data.
All the details.
THE IRISH AUTHORITY INVESTIGATION
“These datasets contain personal data relating to around 5.4 million Twitter users worldwide,” the Irish authority said. “They have been reported to map Twitter IDs to the email addresses and/or phone numbers of associated data subjects.”
The Irish regulator said after discussions with Twitter about the matter, it believes "one or more provisions" of the EU's general data protection regulation may have been – and could continue to be – violated.
THE EUROPEAN TWITTER TWIST
Europe has been particularly quick to ask Twitter to keep up with its regulatory demands, from data protection to hate speech enforcement, Bloomberg highlights. Hours after billionaire Musk finalized his deal for the company, European Commissioner Thierry Breton sent a warning to the new owner, urging the company to "play by our rules".
THE SHOCKS IN THE MUSK ERA
Since the acquisition of Musk in October, Twitter has not lacked jolts behind the others.
During his first meeting with employees on Thursday, Musk said he couldn't rule out the micro-blogging company going bankrupt . Meanwhile, the same day the company saw the exodus of some of Twitter's top executives, including privacy and security executives.
The US Federal Trade Commission, a top consumer protection regulator, said shortly afterward that it was "following recent developments on Twitter with deep concern." In 2011, Twitter signed an agreement pledging to better protect user data, which the authority continues to oversee.
Meanwhile, the company dismantled Twitter's European headquarters in Brussels in late November. The team's six employees have left their posts following an emailed ultimatum from new CEO Elon Musk as part of his plan to cut 7,500 jobs. The dismantling of the office, a fundamental political connection with the European institutions, and the change of course undertaken by Musk, according to what we learn, worries the European Commission. The same EU vice president Margrethe Vestager had underlined that the new business model appears "totally imperfect".
WHEN THE IRISH AUTHORITY HIT
Finally, it is not the first time that Twitter has come under the scrutiny of the Irish regulator. The company has already been fined €450,000 for a separate data breach by the Dublin DPC.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/perche-twitter-pre-musk-ha-qualche-problema-in-irlanda-sulla-privacy/ on Tue, 27 Dec 2022 14:22:01 +0000.