Twitter blames “security incident” for leaking private Circle tweets

3 years ago 2

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Twitter has blamed the recent leaking of tweets from its private Circles feature on a “security incident”, The Guardian reports.

Twitter Circles are like closed groups that allow users to share tweets and media with a selection of up to 150 people.

In April 2023, several Twitter users discovered a bug that leaked tweets shared in these circles on the main “For You” feed.

The bug could have landed someone who used their Circle to complain about their job, gossip about friends or family, or share other privileged or sensitive information in deep trouble.

The Guardian has seen a recent email Twitter sent to users affected by the issue.

Twitter said that a “security incident that occurred earlier this year” may have allowed users outside of Twitter Circles to see tweets that would otherwise have been limited to the Circle in which they were posted.

The company said the problem was identified by its security team and “immediately” fixed to stop them from appearing in strangers’ feeds.

“Twitter is committed to protecting the privacy of the people who use our service, and we understand the risks that an incident like this can introduce, and we deeply regret this happened,” the social media platform said.

The incident was just one of several in which bugs and glitches caused problems for users in the past few months.

Much of this has occurred since Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover.

The eccentric billionaire’s approach to rapid coding changes to adjust the platform’s algorithm and roll out new features has been reminiscent of the “fail fast, but learn faster” philosophy of his private space company SpaceX.

Shortly after taking over at Twitter, Musk himself warned that the platform would do “lots of dumb things in [the] coming months”.

“We will keep what works and change what doesn’t,” he said.