Twitter Has Changed Its Privacy Policy, so Please Update Your Settings
On Wednesday, Twitter released an updated privacy policy that makes users worry about how their personal information is tracked, stored and used. In the policy, the microblogging platform announced its plans to drop the privacy preferences it previously adhered to, store your cookies for a longer period of time, and change the way Twitter shares your personal data.
“The Twitter announcement is bad news for online privacy,” Mark Rotenberg, president of the nonprofit Electronic Privacy Information Center, told The Associated Press . “The company moved away from the Do Not Track feature and provided advertisers with access to more user data.”
But there’s reason not to worry too much : Twitter is also rolling out a new set of controls that give you the option to opt out of sharing certain types of data. You just need to remember to actually do it as they are going to include you in these changes in a month.
How has the privacy policy changed?
No More Do Not Track: The new privacy policy, effective June 18, removes the Do Not Track option, a privacy setting that allows you to opt out of being tracked by third-party services on the website. Although, according to The AP , many social networks still did not satisfy the Do Not Track request.
Twitter explains their rationale on their website :
Twitter has discontinued support for the Do Not Track browser option. While we hoped that our support for Do Not Track would drive industry adoption, the standard Do Not Track approach did not materialize.
Plus, of course, there is the fact that Twitter can generate more revenue from specialized ads than from regular ads. And tailored ads require a lot of information about who you are and what you like.
Cookies: When you visit a site that has a Twitter Share button or an embedded tweet, Twitter uses tracking cookies to store information about you. Previously, the platform stored this information for 10 days. According to a new privacy update, Twitter is extending this time limit to 30 days. Three times the storage length means they have more data and in turn can create a more complete profile of you.
This change will not affect those living in the European Union or EFTA member states: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
Sharing your data: This part is a little fuzzy, but at its core, Twitter is changing the way you share your “non-personal, aggregated and device-level data.” Worryingly, some select partner agreements will associate data with your personal information, such as your name and email address , which means Twitter partners can access your full profile.
The good news is that Twitter gives you the ability to revoke access. But be aware that Twitter takes a “until told otherwise” approach: they will think you have given permission unless you revoke it.
How can I stop sharing all my data?
As Twitter moved away from Do Not Track and changed the way we share your data, the platform has introduced new personalization and data options that it says offer “even finer control over how [they] use your data.” By “granular control” they mean that you can choose what information they can share and what they don’t.
This page requests permission for personalized ads, personalization across all devices, access to your location, tracking to see where Twitter content appears on the web, and sharing with select partners.
In the mobile app, select Settings & Privacy, Privacy & Security, and then Personalization & Data. You will be taken to a page where you can enable or disable Twitter’s access to your information. You will also have to do the same in your web browser by going here and adjusting your preferences.
Just know that everything should be turned on by default, so if you have a problem, you need to manually go to the system to opt out and adjust the settings.
What am I doing?
You decide! If you enjoy receiving customized ads, you don’t need to do anything with the settings – Twitter will soon use your information to tailor ads for you. If you want to share some information, but not others, you should go to the personalization and data page and choose which settings you want to enable and which not. And if you are completely frightened by the amount of transmitted information, select “Disable all”.