NEW YORK (Reuters) - Privately held microblogging service Twitter has agreed to a settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission over charges that it put customers privacy at risk by failing to safeguard their personal information.
As part of the settlement, Twitter agreed to establish an independently audited information security program, according to the FTC.
"When a company promises consumers that their personal information is secure, it must live up to that promise," David Vladeck, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement.
And if a company allows consumers to designate their information as private it must use reasonable security to support that designation.
"Consumers who use social networking sites may choose to share some information with others, but they still have a right to expect that their personal information will be kept private and secure," Vladeck said.
(Reporting by Sinead Carew; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)
