Twitter violations privacy and misuse of user data for advertising purposes.
The lawsuit reveals that Twitter misrepresented its policies to users between 2013 and 2019.
Twitter has violated the FTC Act and a troubleshooting order that was issued in 2011.
The main complaint in this lawsuit covers the use of email addresses and phone numbers for targeted advertising.
For those of you who don't know, Twitter in 2013-2019 required users to add a phone number or email address to activate account protection measures such as two-factor authentication .
However, the phone number and email address data is used for ad targeting purposes.
Twitter admitted that the company inadvertently funneled email addresses and phone numbers into its advertising system.
In 2019, Twitter has also publicly apologized for the issue.
During this period, Twitter also erred in complying with rules that limited how companies could use user data .
"The $150 million sentence reflects the seriousness of the lawsuit against Twitter," said Attorney General Vanita Gupta as quoted by The Verge.
"Substantial new compliance measures will be put in place as a result of today's proposed workaround to help prevent misleading tactics that threaten privacy user
Twitter Response
Twitter's head of privacy, Damien Kieran, admitted his mistake in a thread he wrote on May 26.
"Our settlement with the FTC reflects Twitter's pre-existing commitment and investment in security and privacy," Kieran wrote.
"We will continue to partner with our regulators to ensure they understand how security and privacy practices on Twitter are constantly evolving."