Usually, when an extremely large
organisation recalibrates their customers’ privacy expectations, we can expect
howls of indignation to emerge from the fundamentalist wing of the data
protection community.
So, on learning that Twitter was evidently
going to snoop on every app in their customers’ phones, I sat back and waited
for the reaction.
Have I heard anything from the Article 29
Working Party yet?
Nope.
Nope.
Have I heard anything from the ICO yet?
Nope.
Have I heard anything from BigBrotherWatch yet?
Nope.
Perhaps Twitter isn’t the type of extremely
large organisation that naturally attracts instant fury from the usual suspects. After all, only 284 million people use
Twitter every month.
Evidently, people are more concerned at
whatever Google or Facebook might be doing with their customers’ information,
rather than (relatively) tiny Twitter.
But things may change. When I recall the
torrents of abuse that usually accompany any G or FB privacy announcement, even
when they’re trying their hardest to make things more transparent to their
customers, I do wonder how Twitter will deal with the feedback that will
emerge.
Of course, it may be that Twitter fully
briefed the Article 29 Working Party and the European Commission about its
announcement, and stressed the ease with which customers will be able to object
to Twitter automatically opting everyone into its new data collection service.
We can expect the usual concerns. Why
should people have to opt out? Why is it the case that they have all been
automatically opted in?
These are sorts of issues that I frequently
help my clients deal with.
From a “privacy by default” perspective, I
can understand why the DP Taliban would be upset.
But life isn’t always about opting in. At least Twitter is being transparent about
what they are doing, and they’ve developed a user education programme that
informs individuals of the choices that are now before them. They’re trying to
be innovative and are trying to remind customers of the “value exchange” that
exists when people subscribe to a “free” service.
If Twitter’s users don’t want their apps to
be logged, they can always object. And if they really really don’t like what’s
happening, they can always cancel their Twitter account.
Sources:
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