Twitter Fixes Four Year Privacy Glitch

Twitter fanatics, if you’re using an Android phone to tweet private tweets you might want to check your settings… and breathe a sigh of relief. 

Last week the micro-blogging platform announced it fixed a bug that would disable the ‘Protect Your Tweets’ option, effectively changing account settings from private to public without the user’s knowledge. 

The glitch has apparently been around for four years and affected individuals who use the app on their Android smartphones. 

According to Digital Trends “…the bug somehow turned off protected tweets, a privacy setting that’s designed to hide posts from public view, with only selected users given access. Twitter said that the ‘protect your tweets’ setting appeared to turn off ‘if certain account changes were made.”

Any time an Android user adjusted the settings within the app (i.e. changed their email address) their account would automatically change from private to public. 

Slightly terrifying, considering many Twitter users want to keep their accounts (and tweets) private. 

In the past few years, a number of social media heavyweights have been coming under scrutiny for privacy concerns. From the Cambridge Analytica scandal to private tweets being exposed due to a “glitch” many users are beginning to lose trust in their favorite platforms.  

Were you affected by the bug? Have you lost trust in Twitter? Let us know in the comments below.

Written by Shivani Mathur. Photo credit: Shutterstock.