Twitter Took Phone Numbers for Security and Used Them for Advertising (vice.com) 63
When some users provided Twitter with their phone number to make their account more secure, the company used this information for advertising purposes, the company said today. From a report: This isn't the first time that a large social network has taken information explicitly meant for the purposes of security, and then quietly or accidentally use it for something else entirely. Facebook did something similar with phone numbers provided by users for two-factor authentication, the company confirmed last year. "We recently discovered that when you provided an email address or phone number for safety or security purposes (for example, two-factor authentication) this data may have inadvertently been used for advertising purposes, specifically in our Tailored Audiences and Partner Audiences advertising system," Twitter's announcement reads. In short, when an advertiser using Twitter uploaded their own marketing list of email addresses or phone numbers, Twitter may have matched the list to people on Twitter "based on the email or phone number the Twitter account holder provided for safety and security purposes," the post adds.
BS (Score:5, Insightful)
Bullshit. Someone did it very, very, deliberately.
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Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
Both I Think (Score:3)
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Re:BS (Score:5, Insightful)
Hanlon's Razor is deprecated. Refer instead to the Surveillance Valley Razor:
"Never attribute to stupidity that which is adequately explained by malice."
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Re:BS (Score:4, Insightful)
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Ha! PatentLover's Corollary
cute... but... (Score:3)
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
That's a great quote in that it's catchy and succinct, and even true some times... BUT it has become a dodge of reality, for perpetrators and victims both. Softening the wording to frame it less polarizingly, it becomes "Never attribute to intent what is explained by accident", and yes, while accidents do happen, there is a LOT of intent in the data-surveilling / marketing / money-making world, and that intent is working to ends that are not in your favor.
Never let a platitude lull you to sleep while you
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Worth noting, Hanlon's razor generally applies where there isn't a significant incentive. It's an excellent way to view typoes, schedule mix-ups, stranger gets your order wrong, etc.
When the party in question "just happens" to rake in an extra million advertising dollars as a result of the "error", not so much.
In this case, I wonder if stupidity would even BE an adequate explanation. Has anyone ever provided their phone number for a purpose other than extra security? Why is security information even availab
Re:BS (Score:5, Funny)
"Sufficiently advanced stupidity is indistinguishable from malice".
Re:BS (Score:4, Insightful)
I remember complaining about "2-factor" once, how I lost access to a gmail account because they wanted my phone number "for my safety". I remember someone replying "hey, it's just a phone number!".
Well, I assume google has just as many evil genius marketing directors as twitter does. I guess I'm going to have to get a burner phone...for my safety.
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I remember complaining about "2-factor" once, how I lost access to a gmail account because they wanted my phone number "for my safety". I remember someone replying "hey, it's just a phone number!".
Well, I assume google has just as many evil genius marketing directors as twitter does. I guess I'm going to have to get a burner phone...for my safety.
I lost *two* gmail accounts a couple weeks ago because I switched ISPs. Apparently that was enough to trigger their requirements for authentication beyond the passwords which was not possible since my phone number went with the ISP. So what the fuck are passwords for now?
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More than likely what happened was the list wasn't clearly labeled as "no advertising." And rather than being security conscientious and assuming they couldn't use a list unless it was explicitly allowed, they were lazy and assumed t
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That is not what happened with absolute certainty. I've worked in enough corporations at enough different levels to be quite sure that not "someone" by accident forgot to label the list and then "someone" else by accident used it.
The GP is perfectly right. Someone specific, namely a manager in charge, very, very deliberately did this and it absolutely was malicious.
A likely scenario is that the person in charge needed to make his numbers for his bonus and he thought about how to do it and came up with the i
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that the data was available in the api in the same place.. well.
It is quite deliberate to have a feature for advertiser to add a list of phone numbers it wants the ads to be shown to though. and you're not told about that when watching said ad either. that's the creepy part really.
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Has history forgotten old Twitter farts? (Score:2)
Um, doesn't anyone remember Twitter before smart phones?
Yes, we used dumb phones to send tweets, hence the 140 character limit. (20 chars for the handle (aka username)).
Thus we all used our phone numbers. Sheesh.
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Um, doesn't anyone remember Twitter before smart phones?
Yes, we used dumb phones to send tweets, hence the 140 character limit. (20 chars for the handle (aka username)).
Thus we all used our phone numbers. Sheesh.
But we weren't texting marketers and requesting they text us back or share our personal information with their buddies.
Yahoo (Score:3, Insightful)
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Yahoo nags me constantly to give them my phone number when I access my email. I will never give it to them. This is one of the reasons.
Do not give it to them. And do not give it to Google either. It is a sure fire way to lose access to your account.
I am shocked! (Score:3)
Shocked, I tell you! A shitty corporation abused its customers' privacy to make a little more profit.
Anyone who thinks this is some sort of exceptional event is an idiot - it's what tech corporations do!
You aren't paying Twitter, are you? (Score:1, Insightful)
You aren't paying them, are you? Yet, they — the executives, the ordinary employees, the stock-holders — are all paid. And rather well.
You aren't a customer of theirs, quit complaining...
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You aren't paying Twitter because you ARE the product. Just how the hell do you think they get paid? By selling your ID.
Re:You aren't paying Twitter, are you? (Score:4, Insightful)
Not mine, they don't — I don't use Twitter... But I'm not the one complaining either...
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Clearly, twitter benefits in some way from having users. If not, it would be easier to just close all user accounts.
They explicitly stated that using users' phone numbers for advertising is not part of that non-monetary PAYMENT for the service of relaying messages. Then they quietly used the phone numbers for advertising anyway.
Quelle Surprise (Score:2)
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inadvertently been used for advertising (Score:2)
Like inadvertently farting in a lift, everyone politely puts up with it, disgusted and waiting to escape.
Seriously guys (Score:2)
Who actually thought by giving more information on you to the leaking internet, was for security?
Old Rule: if you want security do not connect to the internet!
Twitter says: "Come on, Baby.. (Score:4, Funny)
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Granted it's dark humor but what so-called 'social media' is doing to everyone is pretty damned dark, too, so I think it's warranted.
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I'm tired of this phone number shit (Score:4, Interesting)
Now companies, sit the hell down and shut the fuck up and listen to this:
I DON'T WANT TO GIVE MY PHONE NUMBER TO YOU.
And in case you are too fucking stupid to comprehend the first time,
let me repeat what I just said:
I DON'T WANT TO GIVE MY PHONE NUMBER TO YOU.
And don't fuck around with me "for my safety". I am a grown adult, older than most of the people working for you, and I don't need you to treat me like a fucking toddler, understand?
And if you suddenly pop up a requirement that I enter a phone number "for my safety", and the system requires one that I never entered and I am forever locked out, you will have just made an instant enemy, and I will trash your name at every chance I get. Since you never leave any legitimate channels open to get this resolved, and you have layers of people and bureaucracy to protect yourselves from helping the likes of me to solve a problem that YOU created, I will fuck you up. I'll spread the word far and wide letting people know how much of a putz you are, and I'll make you lose customers left and right. Can your pea brains comprehend what I am saying?
I hope so, for YOUR sake!
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Even if they didn't maliciously use the data (which they obviously do) corporations routinely lose your data and are punished for their security lapses in no meaningful way.
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My main issue is when companies suddenly demand phone number verification for an account that was set up without one, and the account holder is "locked" out. This is a major design flaw and has the potential to do some real damage (example: The person can't log into his email because of this and he is waiting for a reply from an employer who is deciding whether to hire him).
Yes, FB has my number, but it's for a phone that does not get many calls, and if they wanted to start some shit, I can block t
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"This is a major design flaw and has the potential to do some real damage"..
and they leave no way to resolve it. If by some miracle you can connect to a human, more likely they not they will start with "I'm sorry, but...". At that point you might as well hang up the phone, because it's clear they don't give a shit about you, and you can rot in hell for all they care. After all, they can get more customers (their thinking).
Say it ain't so (Score:3)
I don't have a twitter or facebook account, don't want one, don't need one. So I can view some of these stories with a fair amount of indifference.
I'm not sure which I find more fascinating:
- That twitter (and facebook) can, with a straight face, effectively say "guys you won't believe this but you know that phone number you gave us in confidence, well we slipped and fell and it accidentally landed in advertisement.
-That some folks are surprised by this turn of events.
For almost 20 years certain voices have been saying 'You are the product'. Not sure what more it takes for folks to understand that.
Mod Parent Up (Score:2)
- That twitter (and facebook) can, with a straight face, effectively say "guys you won't believe this but you know that phone number you gave us in confidence, well we slipped and fell and it accidentally landed in advertisement.
^^^^THIS THIS THIS
Seriously, did any of you really believe that they weren't going to use your personal info for marketing?
Duh (Score:2)
>"When some users provided Twitter with their phone number to make their account more secure, the company used this information for advertising purposes,"
Um, "Duh". Does anyone think ANY company that demands your phone number isn't going to use it for something OTHER than the stated purpose? That is my ASSUMPTION. Now Google *demands* a phone number, or you can't do anything. Trying to get around that is nearly impossible. Facebook just harvests it, and I am sure they ask for it too (don't know, hav
advertisement is evil (Score:3)
If you are surprised by this, I have a few bridges on sale, really cheap, good quality, only one previous owner.
Advertisement is an evil concept. The very idea that you are not the customer, but the target, the victim, the mark, has a dehumanizing quality and then shit like this happens. Again, and again, and again. If you are not a complete idiot, you expected this when they asked for your phone number.
The business model is the problem, not the execution of it. So many companies whose business is based on selling your information to advertisers have now been caught with both hands in the cookie jar that it isn't a few bad apples anymore.
We need to move back to a business model where we pay for services, and get what we pay for. As a society we need to understand that "free" is actually more expensive. It's become disgusting. I don't have one of those store cards, you know for physical stores where they give you a few % in return for tracking your shopping habits? Literally every single time I shop they try to give me one. The fact that they push them so hard alone makes it clear that it isn't my advantage they're thinking about.
Everyone knows... (Score:2)
Everyone knows you can't trust any company funded by the Sandhill Road money cartel for anything.
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Twitter's initial funding was from Union Square Ventures based in New York City.
Re: Of course (Score:1)
Marketing: How to get phone number ? (Score:2)
And people fell for it. And they all deserve it for not having any critical thinking abilities - whatsoever -
Jokes on them! (Score:2)
When they tried to get me to hand over my actual phone number to sign up for twitter (which I only needed/wanted for dev API purposes) I signed up for a google number I never use and gave them that!
Lol, seriously? (Score:2)
""We recently discovered that when you provided an email address or phone number .... may have inadvertently been used for advertising purposes"
Lol, "inadvertently", ha ha, good one. Thanks, I needed a chuckle to start off my day.
From the "No-Shit-Sherlock" Dept. (Score:2)
When some users provided Twitter with their phone number to make their account more secure
I laugh every time some online company asks (or even demands) my cell number to help secure/recover/etc. my account. How stupid do they think I am? I know EXACTLLY what you are going to do with my info: Sell it to anybody and everybody to make another buck of profit. I'm amazed at how many people fall for this...
Absolutely shocked.... (Score:1)
so what. (Score:2)
The question remains, what can be done about it?
What is the attraction of Twitter, anyway? (Score:2)
I have an account, but I very rarely look at it. It's a firehose of brainless sewage that makes FaceBook look like pre-September Usenet.
Yeah, every now and then there's something worthwhile, but the signal to noise ratio has to be expressed using negative exponents.
(And get off my lawn.)