What the changes at Twitter mean for your data privacy

 Twitter has a new CEO and is undergoing major surgery.

Elon Musk's plans for Twitter Blue after purchasing the company on October 28th, 2022 include a major overhaul.

Currently, advertising accounts for 89 percent of Twitter's revenue. Musk wants it to be less reliant on ad sales, so he's speeding up its paid subscription and super-app strategy.

However, you will be sharing your banking information with Twitter, which has data privacy implications. To stay informed about these changes, avoid the political circus and stick to the facts.

Here's what you should know.

What exactly is Twitter Blue?

Twitter Blue is an opt-in subscription service that grants you a verified blue checkmark, as well as access to new features such as Edit.

Musk has stated that all verified accounts will be "manually authenticated" before receiving their blue tick, which will be displayed alongside color-coded ticks for governments (grey) and businesses (yellow) (gold).

While the verification service is currently unavailable due to impersonation issues, Twitter Blue subscribers will receive the following benefits when it returns:

Your tweets will be prioritized over replies, mentions, and searches. Twitter will also prioritize tweets from subscribers in order to combat spambots.

Subscribers will see half as many ads as non-subscribers.

You have the ability to post longer videos than non-paying users.

Twitter Blue Labs provides early access to select new features.

Possibility to upload an NFT profile picture.

Share content with 1080p (Full HD) video.

What does Twitter know about you?

Twitter's mission has always been to help people create and share information quickly and without barriers, so user privacy has never been a strong suit. Unless your profile is set to private, all of your tweets are public and searchable in perpetuity.

To get down to business, they want mass engagement and as many tweets as possible.

Ads currently pay Twitter's bills because it is free to use (at least for the time being). Twitter, like other social platforms, tracks your digital footprint and promotes tailored advertisements based on your personal information and browsing habits.

According to Twitter's privacy policies, the following information is available about you:

Your username, location, date of birth, joining date, personal website, and even your appearance if you uploaded a photo of yourself as an avatar

Your contact information, including your email address and phone number, and location information.

Can you trust Twitter Blue with your data?

Inside its direct-message inboxes since 2006, the platform has amassed a wealth of data, including email addresses, passwords, and private correspondence.

Unlike chat apps WhatsApp or Signal, Twitter's messaging system currently lacks end-to-end encryption.

When Twitter Blue collects payment information for its verified subscription services, it must ensure that your information is not misplaced or misused.

You could delete all of your DMs now, but they will only be gone when you die. The recipient of the conversation must also delete them.

If you choose to delete your Twitter account for privacy reasons, they will keep your data for 30 days after you deactivate it, giving you the opportunity to restore your account within that time frame.