Privacy: Twitter Begins Scanning Your Device For Apps You’ve Installed, Opt-Out Possible
From the AP:
Twitter says it is now tracking what other apps its users have installed on their mobile devices so it can target content and ads to them better.
San Francisco-based Twitter Inc. said Wednesday that users will receive a notification when the setting is turned on, and can opt out using settings on their phones.
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Twitter says it is only collecting the list of apps that users have installed, not any data within the apps.
More From the Twitter Help Center:
To help build a more personal Twitter experience for you, we are collecting and occasionally updating the list of apps installed on your mobile device so we can deliver tailored content that you might be interested in.
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Twitter is using your app graph to help build a more tailored experience for you on Twitter. Some examples of how we may use your graph data include:
- Improved “who to follow” suggestions that share similar interests.
- Adding Tweets, accounts, or other content to your timeline that we think you’ll find especially interesting
- Showing you more relevant promoted content.
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We will notify you about this feature being turned on for your account by showing a prompt letting you know that to help tailor your experience, Twitter uses the apps on your device. Until you see this prompt, this setting is turned off and we are not collecting a list of your apps.
The post also includes info about how to opt-out and remove data.
See Also: How to stop Twitter from collecting app data for ads on your iPhone or Android phone (via The Next Web).
This set of directions includes screenshots.
Filed under: Data Files, Digital Preservation, News, Patrons and Users
About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.