Dick Costolo: “Twitter’s needs are rarely in conflict with users’ rights”

Twitter has, unlike Facebook and Google, managed to maintain a good reputation when it comes to respecting user privacy, but it’s not easy. The company claims to work tirelessly to ensure its users’ privacy is secure and protected. However this becomes significantly more difficult when operating at a global level due to the widely differing laws in different countries. 

In the privacy scandals, Twitter has been heralded as a standout bastion of user security. Where companies like Facebook have been roundly criticized for confusing and ever changing privacy settings, Twitter has tread carefully around sharing data with advertisers. Unlike Google and Facebook, the company respects users’ browser “Do Not Track” setting. Twitter was also noticeably absent from the leaked PRISM list of big tech companies cooperating with the NSA. But as the NSA scandal continues to unfold and Twitter faces pressure as a public company to grow its ad revenue, user privacy issues become difficult to navigate.