Twitter has released a new privacy policy on Wednesday for anyone worried about how to track, store, and use their personal data.
In the new policy, the company announced plans to stop providing the do not track privacy protection it previously had, which will store cookies for longer space and that it will change the way Twitter shares your personal data.
“Twitter's announcement is bad news for privacy in the Internet", he told the Associated Press Marc Rotenberg, president of the nonprofit Cybersecurity Information Center. "The company stopped supporting Do Not Track and gave advertisers access to more of its users' data."
But let's look at things from the beginning:
Twitter will also roll out a new set of controls that gives you the choice to opt out of the provision of certain data to third parties. You'll just have to remember to do so when these options roll out over the next month.
Table of Contents
What changes to privacy policy?
As mentioned above, "Do Not Track" no longer exists: The new privacy policy, effective June 18, removes the “Do Not Track” option – a privacy preference that allows you to opt out of being tracked by third-party services on the site. Although, according to The AP, many social networks although they have Do Not Track they do not implement it.
Cookies: When you visit a website, click on share or in an embedded button on a web page that mentions a tweet, Twitter uses tracking cookies to store information relevant to you. Previously, the platform store this information for 10 days. According to new update privacy, Twitter extends storage time to 30 days. Triple storage time means they will have more data and that means they will be able to create a more complete profile for you.
This change will not apply to those living in the European Union or European Free Trade Area member states: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Νορβηγία and Switzerland.
Sharing your data: This part of the new policy is a bit murky, but essentially, Twitter is changing the way it shares your data with third parties. The worrying part is that some select partnership agreements will link the data to your personal information such as your name and electronic your mail, which means Twitter partners will be able to access a more complete profile of you.
The good news is that Twitter gives you the option to revoke access. But you should know that Twitter follows the approach: "he agrees until he says I do not agree." What does this mean; The company assumes that you have given it permission until you "say" the opposite through the settings.
How can I stop my data from leaking?
By removing "Do not Track" and changing the way your data is shared, the site states that it will introduce new personalization and data settings that offer even more detailed control over how they [use] your data ”This means you can choose which information can be shared and which can not.
This page seeks to authorize personalized ads, personalization across devices, access to location you, tracking, viewing Twitter content online and sharing data with selected partners.
In the mobile app, go to “Settings and privacy,” “Privacy and security,” then “Personalization and data.” This will take you to a page where you can enable or disable Twitter's access to your information. You should also do the same in your browser by adjusting the preferencespriceyou
You just need to know that the default setting for all your data is on.
What to do?
If you want to receive custom ads, then you do not need to do anything in your settings. Twitter will soon use your information to customize the ads you see.
If you want to share some information but not others, then you need to go to the personalization and data page and choose which settings you want to enable and which not. If you are still outraged by the amount of information being shared, select "disable all".
