Twitter reveals 2FA security data has 'inadvertently been used for advertising purposes'
Twitter has announced that email addresses and phone numbers provided by users for use with two-factor authentication (2FA) have been "inadvertently" used to deliver tailored ads.
The company says it does not know how many people are affected by the incident, but apologizes for letting private data be used in this way. The timing of the announcement is a little strange. Twitter says that the matter was under control as of September 17, and it is not quite clear why it took three weeks to go public about it -- even though it says "in an effort to be transparent, we wanted to make everyone aware".
Twitter philanthropy: Noble endeavor or evil conspiracy?
Philanthropy is a funny thing. Do it the "right" way and you’re a saint. Do it the "wrong" way -- as defined by the trolls of Twitter nation -- and you’re an evil, corrupt opportunist capitalizing on the bad fortune of the downtrodden.
It’s a lesson that Bill Pulte, CEO of Pulte Capital & Blight Authority, is finding out the hard way. After championing urban renewal through his campaign of tearing down and clearing abandoned homes in economically depressed areas (i.e. "urban blight"), the grandson of the legendary founder of Pulte Homes is turning his attention to a more targeted form of giving: Specifically, he’s advocating for the direct transfer of cash to needy individuals and families from willing donors, with Twitter as the medium connecting the two sides.
Hackers use Jack Dorsey's Twitter account to send racist tweets
Jack Dorsey's Twitter account was hacked yesterday, and the hackers -- going by the name of the Chuckle Gang -- proceeded to send racist tweets and made reference to a bomb at Twitter headquarters.
The account of the Twitter CEO was back under control relatively quickly, and the tweets sent out by the hackers were deleted. Twitter has said that its security systems were not compromised in the attack, instead blaming the account hijacking on a "security oversight" by a mobile provider which enabled hackers to take control of a mobile number associated with Dorsey's account.
Hate the new-look Twitter? Here's how to get the old version back
People are often resistant to change, particularly when it feels like change for the sake of change -- and this is certainly the feeling that abounds with the recent redesign of Twitter.
While some Twitter users have been working with the new look for some time, it only rolled out globally a couple of weeks ago. Predictably, the reaction has been mixed, but the redesign has certainly not been met with universal praise. If you're one of the many who hate the way things are now, you'll be frustrated to learn that Twitter does not give you a way to revert back to the old look. But where there's a will, there's a way...
The right to be wrong: Public opinions, private data and Twitter's proposed flagging policy
A few weeks ago, Twitter announced a plan to begin placing a notice over tweets from high-influence political leaders it believes violate its standards regarding abusive behavior. On the surface, this didn’t seem significantly different from the motion picture industry’s rating system or more detailed advisories posted prior to programming on Netflix and other on-demand networks. But dig a little deeper and one realizes what made it particularly dangerous is Twitter’s intention to apply this protocol very selectively.
Initially, this censorship policy would apply solely to posts from political figures with large followings. But why not from everyone with 100,000 followers? Or less? In other words, why not to everyone, period? Why not to you and me?
Scotland Yard Twitter account and website hacked
The Twitter account of Scotland Yard has been hit by hackers, resulting in a series of strange and offensive tweets being sent to hundreds of thousands of followers. The website for the Metropolitan Police was also hacked.
Tweets sent by the hackers made references to Keemstar as well as drill artist Digga D, calling for the rapper to be freed from prison. The attack by hackers also resulted in a series of emails being sent out to journalists via the Metropolitan Police's official email address.
Twitter redesign rolls out on the web
Twitter is rolling out a faster, redesigned version of its website, bringing not only a new look to the desktop, but also a range of new features.
It's now possible to bookmark tweets -- something users have been asking for for a very long time -- there is a darker dark mode, and the Explore feature from Twitter's mobile apps makes its way to the web. There's certainly a lot to like, but the fact that the new look is not optional is likely to grate with some users.
US Court of Appeals says Trump can't block people on Twitter
Donald Trump's love of Twitter is legendary and often ridiculed; it is also the source of frequent controversy.
The US president is huge fan of ranting, raving and venting steam in tweet storms, but his famed love of sycophants also comes to the fore. Many people who have responded to his tweets critically have found themselves blocked. Now the US Court of Appeal says this is a violation of their First Amendment rights.
The Twitter app is returning to macOS
For more than a year, macOS users have been without an official desktop Twitter client -- more on that shortly. But now, thanks to Project Catalyst for macOS 10.15 Catalina, a Twitter app is making its way back to Mac.
Twitter says that Apple's Project Catalyst means that it has been easy to use the code from the iOS version of the client to create a native macOS app. The company has also revealed just why it was the Mac Twitter client disappeared in the first place.
Twitter looks into whether white nationalists and supremacists should be banned
In a world that appears to be lurching ever further to the right, it is perhaps little wonder that white nationalists, white supremacists and other extremists are becoming more prevalent online. Social media sites have a balancing act to perform -- not wanting to be seen to be advocating censorship, but also removing troublesome elements from their networks.
And this is the problem that Twitter faces. The platform has long been home to a glut of racist content and users -- as well as other unsavoury material -- and now the site is conducting research to determine how best to tackle this. Specifically, it is looking at whether white nationalists and supremacists should simply be banned, or whether their posts should be left available for others to debate.
RIP Grumpy Cat: The meme and internet phenomenon is dead
Grumpy Cat, the feline subject of many memes, has died at the age of 7.
The internet celebrity rose to fame because of her delightfully dour demeanour and a sour face that made the online world smile. An internet celebrity for seven years, Grumpy Cat (aka Tardar Sauce) shuffled off this mortal coil this week, leaving the web a sadder place.
Banned from social media? Feeling persecuted and censored? Report it to Donald Trump!
The White House has launched a new tool that enables people to report the fact that they have been kicked off the likes of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
The tool is aimed at people who have had their social media presence curtailed and "suspect political bias" is involved. Anyone who feels aggrieved is invited to "share your story with President Trump".
Privacy: Twitter 'inadvertently' collected and shared location data of some users
Social media services are hardly regarded as bastions of privacy, and the latest slip-up by Twitter goes some way to showing why. Twitter has revealed that it "may have accidentally collected location data" about users, that this data was shared with one of its "trusted partners".
Twitter blames the "inadvertent" data collection on a bug, and says that the issue affects some iOS users. It also says that precise location data was not collected or shared, but zip code or city-level only.
Why every enterprise needs data loss prevention for all social media channels
Security leaders face tough decisions when it comes to using social media in the workplace. Social and other digital channels are fundamentally changing the way modern businesses communicate. They’re tied to critical operations ranging from customer support to marketing to internal collaboration. Avoiding them isn’t an option. At the same time, relying on the security and privacy settings of these platforms can leave your company open to a serious incident.
It doesn’t help that social media comes with an enormous attack surface. The sheer scale of message creation on these platforms makes it especially hard to prevent the leakage of private data, like personally identifiable information (PII) and other privileged information. Security teams need to stop relegating social media as a communications channel. It is essentially a public cloud environment, and needs to be protected as such.
Twitter slashes the number of users you can follow each day
In an attempt to cut down on bots and spam activity, Twitter is dramatically reducing the number of accounts it is possible to follow each day.
The previous limit meant users could follow up to 1,000 new accounts on a daily basis, but this has been abused by spammers and bots to quickly grow their networks. The new limit is less than half of this -- just 400 -- and is an update to Twitter's policies against "aggressive following or follower churn" and "bulk or aggressive activity".
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