Twitter said it received a draft complaint from the FTC, accusing it of violating a 2011 agreement it signed with the Commission, on July 28th, 2020. As Financial Times notes, that agreement prohibits the company from misleading “consumers about the extent to which it protects the security, privacy, and confidentiality” of their data and compels it to “establish and maintain a comprehensive information security program.”
The company has already set aside $150 million to cover the minimum amount it may have to pay. If it’s preparing for an unfavorable outcome, that’s probably because it’s not the first tech company that’s had to face the same allegations from the FTC. Facebook previously had to pay $5 billion for several privacy missteps, including the use of people’s phone numbers, provided for security purposes, for its ad business.