Twitter Might Force Users To Hand Over Location Data, Opt-In To Targeted Ads & Sell User Data To Third Parties

Twitter Might Force Users To Hand Over Location Data, Opt-In To Targeted Ads & Sell User Data To Third Parties

Twitter has been considering radical changes to its user data and advertising policies to help bolster its flagging ad revenue.

According to sources, Twitter’s new policy would show users a full screen pop-up asking for consent to personalised advertising and location data collection. The only way to remove the pop-up would be to say yes — making it impossible to user Twitter without consenting to the changes.

It does not seem that the move will be popular with users. It is thought that just 35 per cent of Apple users opted-in to tracking following the release of Apple App Tracking Transparency, 23 per cent took the extra step of opting-out of sharing location data.

According to the Wall Street Journal, traffic to Twitter’s advertising management tool was down 75 per cent in October and 85 per cent last month. The company has been haemorrhaging advertising partners over fears about brand safety and has sacked most of its staff that work on content moderation.

There is also likely that the changes, should they be implemented, would be illegal. The EU recently announced that it would be suing Facebook owner Meta over mandating that Facebook users give consent to its behavioural ad model.

America’s FTC also recently fined Twitter for US$150 million (AU$218 million) for targeting ads using two-factor authentication phone numbers without permission.

California’s CCPA and CPRA rulings also say that companies cannot force users into sharing data and opting-in to targeted advertising.

Twitter has no communications department to offer comment on the story.




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