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A detailed look at how X (formerly Twitter) collects, stores, and uses your personal data.
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Poor
X (formerly Twitter)'s privacy score of 20/100 reflects their data collection practices, transparency, incident history, and user control options. This score indicates significant privacy concerns that users should be aware of.
In 2022, a breach exposed data of 5.4 million Twitter users exploiting an API vulnerability, with email addresses and phone numbers linked to accounts and sold on hacking forums.
A 2020 social engineering attack compromised high-profile accounts including Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Elon Musk, and Apple, used to promote a Bitcoin scam, revealing internal tool vulnerabilities.
Twitter was fined $150 million by the FTC in 2022 for using phone numbers and email addresses collected for two-factor authentication to instead target advertising to users.
In 2023, after Elon Musk's acquisition, Twitter laid off much of its trust and safety team, and leaked internal documents ('Twitter Files') revealed government influence on content moderation decisions.
A 2019 incident revealed Twitter shared user data with advertising partners without consent and used personal phone numbers for ad targeting, violating user privacy expectations.
To reduce data collection on X (formerly Twitter), start by going to Settings > Privacy and Safety. Under 'Data Sharing and Personalization,' disable 'Personalize based on your inferred identity,' 'Personalize based on places you have been,' and all other personalization toggles. Turn off 'Allow additional information sharing with business partners.' Under 'Ads Preferences,' disable 'Personalized ads' and remove all inferred interests from your profile. Go to 'Off-Twitter activity' and disable 'Allow use of where you see Twitter content across the web.' Under 'Discoverability and contacts,' disable 'Let others find you by your email' and 'Let others find you by your phone,' and delete any synced contacts. Under Privacy and Safety > Direct Messages, disable read receipts. Consider protecting your tweets (making your account private) to limit data scraping. Review 'Connected Apps' and revoke access for any apps you no longer use. In 'Location Information,' disable precise location tagging and delete all location data. Do not use Twitter's built-in browser when clicking links. On your device, revoke X's access to contacts, location, and photos when not needed. Use a privacy-focused browser with uBlock Origin to access X via the web rather than the mobile app, as the app collects significantly more device data. Be aware that X's privacy practices have become less transparent since the ownership change in 2022, with reduced privacy staff and changing policies. For a privacy-respecting alternative, consider joining a Mastodon instance, which is decentralized, open-source, and does not track users for advertising. If you keep your X account, regularly download your archive and delete old tweets using tools like Semiphemeral.
Looking for a privacy-respecting alternative to X (formerly Twitter)? We recommend:
MastodonEnd-to-end encrypted messaging with zero metadata collection.
WeTalkin: End-to-end encrypted messaging with zero metadata collection. No ads. No data harvesting. Just private conversation.
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