More execs in charge of Twitter's privacy and security jump ship

Today is a "y" day, which invariably implies there will be more drama on Twitter. The Verge reports that chief compliance officer Marianne Fogarty, chief privacy officer Damien Kieran, and chief information security officer Lea Kissner have all resigned. According to the article, the company's engineers would now be in charge of making sure rules are followed. There are now some privacy and security constraints imposed on Twitter by a consent decree from the Federal Trade Commission.

Kissner said, "I've made the hard decision to leave Twitter. I've had the chance to work with fantastic individuals, and I'm really pleased of the work done by the IT, privacy, and security teams.

The security and privacy departments at Twitter will undoubtedly be significantly impacted by the departures. To that purpose, The Verge received a Slack message that was allegedly sent by a Twitter attorney, in which engineers are instructed to "self-certify" that they are abiding with FTC regulations and other laws. The letter states that engineers will face a great deal of personal, professional, and legal danger as a result. "I predict that management will put pressure on all of you to push through changes that are likely to result in serious incidents." Such changes are "extremely dangerous for our users," the attorney cautioned, advising employees to seek whistleblower protection if they felt the need to do so.

The FTC consent order is a component of a deal Twitter and the organization came to in May. One of the requirements calls on the business to implement a "comprehensive privacy and information security program" to assess the privacy and security risks of new goods. The attorney warned that Twitter could face "billions of dollars" in fines if it violates the consent order, which would be "extremely detrimental to Twitter's longevity as a platform."

This week, the business updated its Twitter Blue service and began letting users pay $8 per month to get a checkmark, which previously served as a sign that an account was verified. That has already produced a labyrinth of fraud, bogus accounts, and impersonation.

An employee at Twitter told The Verge that the standard privacy review procedure was skipped in favor of the hasty implementation of the sponsored checkmark program, which was ordered by the new owner Elon Musk. "It's unreasonable to think [the privacy review] was comprehensive," the employee said, noting that none of the team's recommendations were implemented before the new Twitter Blue went live. "The people normally tasked with this stuff were given little notice, little time, and [it's] unreasonable to think [the privacy review] was comprehensive." The night before Twitter launched the redesigned service, that team had the opportunity to evaluate potential risks.

Director of Public Affairs for the FTC Douglas Farrar told The Washington Post that "no CEO or firm is above the law, and companies must abide with our consent decrees." We are prepared to employ the new instruments that our updated consent order allows us to guarantee compliance.

Twitter has been approached by Engadget for comment.

Source: Engadget