Washington
– The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said on Thursday that it has reached a
settlement with Twitter, over charges that the company "deceived consumers
and put their privacy at risk by failing to safeguard their personal
information." The FTC had alleged "serious lapses" in Twitter’s
security in 2009 "allowed hackers to obtain administrative control of
Twitter, including access to tweets that consumers had designated private, and
the ability to send out phony tweets pretending to be from then-President-elect
Barack Obama and Fox News, among others."
The two incidents mentioned
involved hackers using password-guessing tools to gain access to administrative
functions on Twitter.
Under the terms of the settlement, Twitter is
"barred for 20 years from misleading consumers about the extent to which
it maintains and protects the security, privacy, and confidentiality of
nonpublic consumer information, including the measures it takes to prevent
authorized access to information and honor the privacy choices made by
consumers."
Twitter must also maintain a comprehensive information
security program, which will be assessed by a third-party every other year for
10 years.
Related Links:
http://ftc.gov/opa/2010/06/twitter.shtm
