The following text was written by Riana Pfefferkorn as a Twitter thread on her account @Riana_Crypto and was originally published on 10 November 2022, 16:13–16:32 UTC.
SCOOP from @alexeheath: Twitter’s chief privacy officer, chief compliance officer, and chief information security officer have all quit. Internal note warns that violating FTC privacy settlement could destroy the company but Elon doesn’t seem to care.
Nilay Patel (2022), citation pending
That’s not how this works. That’s not how any of this works.
(Disclosure: I used to be Twitter’s outside counsel, and I spent some time on loan from my firm to the in-house legal team in 2014. But I have little personal knowledge and no privileged info about their security controls.)
As this story shows, the world’s richest man “does not experience human concerns,” per @edzitron1,2 (cf. @greatdismal:3 “The exceedingly rich were no longer even remotely human.”4) Consequences, like taxes, are for the little people. (h/t @bhpascal5)
Normal companies have security & privacy controls and care about legal compliance. But this is not normal — that’s what has people worried. The Chief Twit’s track record shows “but that’s illegal” isn’t usually a persuasive argument. So too here.
In 2011, Twitter agreed to a 20-year FTC consent order over its data security practices. In May, FTC fined Twitter $150MM for violating the 2011 orders & issued a modified order.6 If Twitter so much as sneezes, it has to do a privacy review beforehand.
There are periodic outside audits, and the FTC can monitor compliance.
Per the order, a small team of senior execs is on the hook for making privacy & security decisions, which are legally binding on the company. And a senior officer has to certify compliance with the order annually to the FTC. This “everyone must self-certify” thing is nonsense.
Designation of a senior officer, or senior level team composed of no more than five (5) persons, to be responsible for any decision to collect, maintain, use, disclose, or provide access to the Covered Information; […]
Citation pending
Dollars to donuts, that small team mandated by the FTC order = all the people who just quit.
Respondent must submit a compliance notice, sworn under penalty of perjury, within fourteen (14) days of any change in the following: (1) any designated point of contact; (2) the structure of Respondent or any entity that Respondent has any ownership interest in or controls directly or indirectly that may affect compliance obligations arising under this Order, including: creation, merger, sale, or dissolution of the entity or any subsidiary, parent, or affiliate that engages in any acts or practices subject to this Order; (3) the filing of any bankruptcy petition, insolvency proceeding, or similar proceeding by or against Respondent.
Citation pending
Under the May order, the FTC can demand additional compliance reports, documents, & info from Twitter, and can interview employees if they agree to an interview. Hiding information from the FTC is a federal crime: just ask Joe Sullivan.
There’s already been one Twitter whistleblower. I bet there’ll be more, if people are quitting/getting fired because they’re being asked to do illegal stuff. Maybe they’ll whistle-blow even before he can bring in people from his other companies to do what they wouldn’t.
Here’s the thing: Why would anyone take the fall for him?! This isn’t the mob. Some executives would definitely face personal liability for illegal acts. I don’t know about lower-level employees (maybe @Popehat7 knows). After Joe Sullivan, I bet folks won’t feel like finding out.
I totally believe he doesn’t care about any FTC order, and wouldn’t hesitate to violate it even if it bound him personally (like the FTC Drizly order8). He’s shown he’s not afraid of the SEC. But regular mortals do worry about jail and lawsuits.
And he needs regular mortals. Technical, legal and (perhaps most important) human layers add friction and make it harder — not impossible, harder — for Twitter to do 10 illegal things before breakfast. At least not without the FTC & maybe Congress finding out.
He’s the boss, but he’s not a god. His whims are not self-executing. Nobody in their right mind will be like “yeah, sure, I’ll self-certify to FTC compliance, I’ll FAFO9 whether I’ll get investigated for perjury.” Even in a tech recession with jobs scarce: He just ain’t worth it.
Footnotes
- Ed Zitron, writer and public relations consultant.
- Zitron (2022).
- William Gibson (b. 1948), essayist and science fiction writer.
- Gibson (1986).
- Brian H. Pascal, non-residential fellow at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society.
- In re Twitter, Inc. (2022).
- Popehat, a law-oriented blog; in this case, its primary contributor, Ken White, a criminal justice and First Amendment attorney based in Los Angeles, California.
- In re Drizly, LLC (2022).
- Fuck around and find out.
References
Gibson, W.F. (1986). Count zero. Victor Gollancz Ltd.
In re Drizly, LLC (FTC, 24 October 2022).
In re Twitter, Inc., C-4316 (FTC, 26 May 2022).
Pfefferkorn, R. [@Riana_Crypto]. (2022, November 11). That’s not how this works. That’s not how any of this works. [Quote Tweet]. Twitter (via Archive Today). Retrieved 14 November 2022.
Pfefferkorn, R. [@Riana_Crypto]. (2022, November 11). Disclosure: I used to be Twitter’s outside counsel, and I spent some time on loan from my firm to the … [Tweet]. Twitter (via Archive Today). Retrieved 14 November 2022.
Pfefferkorn, R. [@Riana_Crypto]. (2022, November 11). As this story shows, the world’s richest man “does not experience human concerns,” per @edzitron (cf @greatdismal: “The exceedingly rich … [Tweet]. Twitter (via Archive Today). Retrieved 14 November 2022.
Pfefferkorn, R. [@Riana_Crypto]. (2022, November 11). Normal companies have security & privacy controls and care about legal compliance. But this is not normal — that’s what has … [Tweet]. Twitter (via Archive Today). Retrieved 14 November 2022.
Pfefferkorn, R. [@Riana_Crypto] (2022, November 11). In 2011, Twitter agreed to a 20-year FTC consent order over its data security practices. In May, FTC fined … [Tweet]. Twitter (via Archive Today). Retrieved 14 November 2022.
Pfefferkorn, R. [@Riana_Crypto] (2022, November 11). There are periodic outside audits, and the FTC can monitor compliance. ftc.gov/system/files/f… [Tweet]. Twitter (via Archive Today). Retrieved 14 November 2022.
Pfefferkorn, R. [@Riana_Crypto] (2022, November 11). Per the order, a small team of senior execs is on the hook for making privacy & security decisions, which … [Tweet]. Twitter (via Archive Today). Retrieved 14 November 2022.
Pfefferkorn, R. [@Riana_Crypto] (2022, November 11). Dollars to donuts, that small team mandated by the FTC order = all the people who just quit. [Tweet]. Twitter (via Archive Today). Retrieved 14 November 2022.
Pfefferkorn, R. [@Riana_Crypto] (2022, November 11). So, here we are, they’re violating the FTC order already. Twitter has a compliance notice due to the FTC *TODAY* … [Tweet]. Twitter (via Archive Today). Retrieved 14 November 2022.
Pfefferkorn, R. [@Riana_Crypto] (2022, November 11). Under the May order, the FTC can demand additional compliance reports, documents, & info from Twitter, and can interview employees … [Tweet]. Twitter (via Archive Today). Retrieved 14 November 2022.
Pfefferkorn, R. [@Riana_Crypto] (2022, November 11). There’s already been one Twitter whistleblower. I bet there’ll be more, if people are quitting/getting fired because they’re being … [Tweet]. Twitter (via Archive Today). Retrieved 14 November 2022.
Pfefferkorn, R. [@Riana_Crypto] (2022, November 11). Here’s the thing: Why would anyone take the fall for him?! This isn’t the mob. Some execs would def face … [Tweet]. Twitter (via Archive Today). Retrieved 14 November 2022.
Pfefferkorn, R. [@Riana_Crypto] (2022, November 11). I totally believe he doesn’t care about any FTC order, and wouldn’t hesitate to violate it even if it bound … [Tweet]. Twitter (via Archive Today). Retrieved 14 November 2022.
Pfefferkorn, R. [@Riana_Crypto] (2022, November 11). And he needs regular mortals. Technical, legal, and (perhaps most important) human layers add friction and make it harder – not … [Tweet]. Twitter (via Archive Today). Retrieved 14 November 2022.
Pfefferkorn, R. [@Riana_Crypto] (2022, November 11). He’s the boss, but he’s not a god. His whims are not self-executing. Nobody in their right mind will be … [Tweet]. Twitter (via Archive Today). Retrieved 14 November 2022.
Zitron, E. (2022, November 5). Billionaire brain damage. Where’s Your Ed At (via Substack). Retrieved 14 November 2022.