Twitter introduces new Privacy Center to give users greater transparency

Conceding that as a company it "is not perfect at privacy and data protection", Twitter has revealed details of a new Privacy Center. This central repository will serve as the portal through which Twitter will keep users informed about how it handles user data.

Twitter is also introducing updates to its privacy policy on January 1, 2020. These will be compliant with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) which places numerous obligations on large companies, including giving customer greater control and transparency, and the right to have their data deleted on request.

See also:

• Twitter puts its account cull on hold... because it forgot about dead people
• Twitter is deleting unused accounts, freeing up loads of usernames
• Now you can enable 2FA on Twitter without a phone number

Twitter says that the Privacy Center will "provide more clarity around what we're doing to protect the information people share with us". It will serve as a central hub to access the latest information about the company's privacy policies, security incidents and the latest tools that are available relating to privacy and data.

There are a number of changes to privacy terms and policies, but a key one is:

For people living outside of the United States and the European Union or European Economic Area, the entity that provides the service to them is changing to Twitter, Inc. from Twitter International Company.

This will make it easier for Twitter to comply with different legislation around the world such as GDPR, CCPA and the Global DPA, giving users in different countries access to different tools and controls.

Twitter publicized the new Privacy Center in a series of tweets via the Twitter Support account:

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

Everyone on Twitter should have meaningful controls over what data they share with us and a clear understanding of how it’s used and when it’s shared.https://t.co/2HPNTPcevT

— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) December 2, 2019

You can access the Twitter Privacy Center here. More information is available in a blog post written by Twitter's data protection officer Damien Kieran.

Image credit: dennizn / Shutterstock