Twitter contacted affected users blaming a ‘security incident’ for the exposure of private tweets after weeks of ignoring user reports about the issue.
In Twitter’s message to users, the company claimed that the “security incident may have allowed users outside of Twitter Circle to see tweets.” According to the company, their security team identified and fixed the problem immediately.
“Twitter is committed to protecting the privacy of the people who use our service. We understand the risks that an incident like this can introduce and we deeply regret this happened,” wrote the company.
The statement caused outrage, as Twitter users had been reporting the problem publicly for weeks. They also mocked the company’s response to the privacy breach, questioning which security team they have in mind since Elon Musk laid off large numbers of security experts some months ago.
Twitter started testing Circle in May 2022, allowing platform users to share thoughts with a select group of followers, similar to Instagram’s Close Friends functionality.
As numerous users noticed, Circle tweets appeared in algorithmically generated "for you" feeds of users who were not authorized to view them. Not to mention the fact that many were not even followers of the authors of the private tweets.
Since Elon Musk took over the company, he has overseen massive layoffs and shrunk the company’s employee count by 60%. Among the fired employees were entire teams responsible for fighting hate speech and ensuring user safety on the platform, senior managers and engineers .
In November, a group of Twitter employees filed a class-action lawsuit in a San Francisco federal court, alleging that the company is in violation of federal and state laws by not providing the mandatory 60-day notice prior to termination.
To go the extra mile in cost-cutting, the new CEO also decided to stop paying rent for office spaces and supplies.
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