Twitter tracks your tweets so advertisers can monitor sale performance

Twitter teams up with Datalogix (DLX) in a new program that enables brands to track the impact that their tweets have on sales. Referred to as "offline sales impact", the program can be used to see just what effect promoted and regular, "organic" tweets have on the number of units shifted from shop shelves.

The precise process involved is not revealed, but the program sees Datalogix send Twitter a list of hashed email addresses which is then compared to a list of email addresses associated with Twitter accounts.

Data is anonymized through the use of ID numbers, and where a match is found between the two lists, Twitter shares details such as views of, and clicks on, a brand's tweets. Partners can then use this information to compare sales between groups of people who saw tweets and those who didn't.

Twitter insists that user privacy is respected and that there is no way that advertisers can gain access to data that would identify anyone or what they have bought. But if you're still concerned about your privacy, it is possible to opt out of the program.

But even with an opt-out page, just how to ensure that your anonymized data is not handed over to advertisers, is not immediately obvious. Head down to the Choice section, click the final "click here" in the last sentence referring to "direct mail, online, mobile and analytic products".

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