LA Times discloses that Twitter harvested unsuspecting users' contacts, stored their phones and email addresses for 18 months. Tweeps angry.
"Twitter hasn't exactly been upfront with folks using the 'Find Friends' feature on iPhones and Android phones," tweeted the Fresno Bee's Jim Boren @jboren4507.
"Twitter has been one of the good guys on privacy. Not today. This, to me, is a huge deal," tweeted author and journalist Barton Gellman, @bartongellman.
Quickly, #privacy implications begin to sink in about Twitter's breach.
"Tweet from your phone? Twitter has your address book, stashed it away on a server and you didn't know it," @papicek tweeted.
"Oh, sweet coffee. You know you're my only one. I love you so mu … Uh, excuse me, Twitter. A little privacy here?" Los Angeles musician Chris Blake tweeted, @chrisblake.
Others raise more piercing #privacy questions.
"People that are using "Twitter for iPhone" y'all privacy is at stake. Hope y'all not sending any explicit pics lol," Da Thrill, @Will_M_Hamilton, tweeted.
Twitter #privacy breach goes viral, global, even down to New Zealand.
"Twitter data collection a 'big issue' for privacy-keen Kiwis … Oh Ohhhh … twitter can see our address books?" concerned Kiwi Darryl Houkamau tweeted, @Darulz1.
In Scotland: "If they don't address this it will finish twitter," Ed Fraser tweeted, @frasereC4.
Could Twitter be sued for invasion of #privacy? Nah. Twitter gave an opaque warning. Besides, #privacy and social media is an oxymoron.
Twitter says it corrects situation, provides button on its site where followers can remove contacts. All's well? Hardly.
Los Angeles Times says social media companies FourSquare, Instagram and FoodSpotting would make data mining policies less opaque. We'll see.
#Privacy is violated in many different ways, as Twitterer-extraordinaire Kelly Oxford, @kellyoxford, confided: "Today's Hero: Airport security guard who just swabbed my hands for explosives, nodded at me and said, 'You're clean.' "
#Privacy breaches are price of life today unless you get off grid or quit social media. Social media sites still should make policies clear.
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "Report Abuse" link to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
• Don't flag other users' comments just because you don't agree with their point of view. Please only flag comments that violate these guidelines.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "Report Abuse" link to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "Report Abuse" link below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.