Could Musk’s ‘Twitter Files’ Leaks Raise Outside Data Access Concerns

Elon Musk is giving exterior writers unprecedented entry to inner Twitter info, instructing the present head of belief and security to supply screenshots of customers’ accounts.

Screenshots displaying inner techniques restricted to a comparatively small variety of individuals in command of moderating content material have been shared by journalist Bari Weiss on Thursday. The photos carry a watermark — a translucent label — indicating they have been taken from the worker view of Twitter’s belief and security head, Ella Irwin.

The watermarked screenshots, taken since December 7, 2022, raised issues about whether or not Weiss had entry to Irwin’s inner account, which might additionally imply entry to delicate info like a consumer’s personal messages, in keeping with individuals with data of Twitter’s techniques.

Irwin later clarified that she took the screenshots herself to stop such a state of affairs. “For security purposes, the screenshots requested came from me so we could ensure no PII,” or personally identifiable info, “was exposed,” Irwin mentioned on Twitter. “We did not give this access to reporters and no, reporters were not accessing user DMs,” or direct messages.

The watermarks have been added to worker accounts after Twitter was hacked in 2020, the individuals mentioned, a transfer supposed to make it simpler for Twitter to know the place screenshots of inner techniques have been coming from.

Weiss did not instantly reply to a request for remark.

The screenshots have been shared as a part of the “Twitter Files,” a set of inner paperwork and emails from former Twitter workers that Musk handed over to exterior reporters who are actually publishing them.

Musk mentioned earlier this month that Weiss and one other author, Matt Taibbi, have unfettered entry to the Twitter Files. People with data of Twitter’s techniques are involved that such broad entry may go away Twitter in violation of its 2022 privateness settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.

“Feels like Weiss’ thread should be enough for the FTC to open an investigation into a violation of the consent decree and perhaps get a subpoena for Twitter’s internal access logs,” tweeted Alex Stamos, who previously ran safety at Meta Platforms Inc. and is now on the Stanford Internet Observatory.

Part of Twitter’s FTC settlement stipulates that worker entry to delicate consumer account information is just granted to individuals with a legitimate enterprise justification for accessing mentioned information. The executives who would have accredited that entry, or would have investigated its misuse, have left the corporate.

“The authors have broad and expanding access to Twitter’s files,” Weiss tweeted Thursday. “The only condition we agreed to was that the material would first be published on Twitter.”

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