Twitter announced in a blog post that its platform was affecting the privacy of some of its iOS app’s users.
“We have discovered that we were inadvertently collecting and sharing iOS location data with one of our trusted partners in certain circumstances,” said Twitter.
The bug only occurred when users had more than one account on its iOS app, and had allowed Twitter access to precise location data in one account.
“We may have accidentally collected location data when you were using any other account(s) on that same device for which you had not turned on the precise location feature.”
The information was then shared with a trusted partner, during an advertising process known as real-time bidding, however Twitter has assured that the partner did not receive any Twitter handles. Twitter also implemented technical measures to “fuzz” the data shared to reduce the accuracy to the nearest zip code or state.
“We have confirmed with our partner that the location data has not been retained and that it only existed in their systems for a short time, and was then deleted as part of their normal process.”
Twitter has announced that the problem has been fixed and has stressed that it will not happen again. This is the fourth bug Twitter had disclosed in the past year.
“We have also communicated with the people whose accounts were impacted to let them know the bug has been fixed. We invite you to check your privacy settings to make sure you’re only sharing the data you want to with us.
“We’re very sorry this happened. We recognize and appreciate the trust you place in us and are committed to earning that trust every day.”
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