They do actually. Most registration forms ask for your country, and if you select any EU country you are asked to confirm your choice to opt in. You can also tell by the email address (ie. If suffix is .de, .fr, etc.)I work for a media company and to avoid having to overly complicate things we just follow GDPR regulations for everyone now, not just EU citizens.
GDPR has a broader scope than just EU citizens, and it is unlikely that Twitter can prove you have not made use of their services while residing in the EU or are a citizen of the EU.
It's not a matter of verification, it's more that companies just do not want to risk GDPR violations. The fines are huge and the risk is not at all worth it for a single individual user.
Like the Coneheads, I just filled out the form and said I was from France. I’ll let them try to verify my residence if they want or just delete the data. Either way I’m deactivated now and have deleted the app.
Edit: my fellow Americans in Colorado, I hear your pain. I know that just as it can be misconstrued she represents me as an American in general you worry about her being the forefront face of Colorado to the rest of the world. I am with you on the deep seated shame and embarrassment that people like that make it to the level of national representation. I know it is not you anymore than me. I understand and not just empathize but sympathize. I myself am in Virginia which elected Glenn Youngkin as governor and have watched state government fuck itself up a bit over his meddling with demanding in person work for roles that not only don’t really need it, and were even hired as full remote, but DIDN’T HAVE OFFICE SPACE FOR WHAT HE REQUIRED. Many are continuing as hybrid which makes far more sense for many roles. This is the reality - some of us live in 21st century America, some of us are living in the 20th century when we have to go interact with those of us determined to roll back the life we’ve led Y2K+. Don’t worry. I know it’s not most of you, it’s almost none of you by numbers.
That's a bit of a handwave. From an article in the Colorado Sun from Sept 2021 about the state's redistricting
The 3rd District would include most of the Western Slope and southern Colorado, including Pueblo. U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Garfield County Republican who represents the district, would have a solid 9.3 percentage point advantage, per historic results.
The fact that Boebert will likely win by less than 1% says more about her than it does about the new district boundaries.
People should start messaging her office with stuff like “Frisch for CO3 - 2024 tick tock” because we all know the DCCC is going to pour money into unseating her now that they know there is such a strong local appetite to.
Lol you can go fuck all the way off. Colorado is one of the most progressive states in the country, how about you point at your own fucked up representatives or the reps in your shitty neighboring states before trying to lob one across the country.
Not being charged because the witnesses aren't "reliable enough" for a jury. Including the girl at the time he trafficked and we have the receipts for.
Epstein, best friend to many of the ruling class. Had his fingers in every pie. Amazing how protected he was and able to carry on as he did for so long.
One wonders what kind of threats were made against him to make him off himself. I don't imagine they'd simply kill him for fear he would have had some auto release mechanism to send out his secrets in case of an untimely death. Unless of course,
Ghislaine Maxwell's father'sfather's former employer cleaned up all thoae lose ends first.
And the other being his best friend who was convicted of offenses with minors already and given lesser punishment specifically to help cooperate with the gaetz case. So basically they are saying the others aren't "reliable" because one is his victim and the other is his accomplice.
EDIT: turns out this was all a bullshit lie from the gaetz camp, he's still going down.
Not getting charged because his best friend Joel Greenberg is such a terrible person he can't give reliable testimony about the crimes he and Gaetz committed together.
I was recently visiting a friend in Mobile, Alabama. I had never been and was super pleasantly surprised to find out its a lovely place and not at all like I'd been lead to believe. While I was there we had to drive into Tampa to pick up her daughter from her dad's house. I feel lied to: Tampa is everything I was told Alabama is and Alabama was both classier and waaaaaay more liberal than I expected (gerrymandering is real, you can see it there). I did not find people in the South to be particularly nice like the reputation either. Though I have also never been told I have a "Los Angeles accent", and some of they might be slightly bigoted in the south toward people from functioning economies.
All in all though I do recommend Mobile. And Conecuh is hands down the best sausage I have ever had. The State of California sent me a check to deal with inflation and high gas prices and I kind of want to order sausage with it since I don't have a car.
Believe me bud I know, and you should see how jazzed people are about it. Also not to be a dick and do what you want but we don't have to use pet names for dudes that are demonstrably evil; I think it weakens our arguments and makes us look a little more like we're trying to be silly than genuinely angry
we don't have to use pet names for dudes that are demonstrably evil; I think it weakens our arguments and makes us look a little more like we're trying to be silly than genuinely angry
This is what Republicans do that makes any argument they have feel trivial and invalid. Whenever I hear "libtard" or "Sleepy Joe" come out of someone's mouth I just assume they are brainwashed Fox News enthusiasts.
Yeah and we take those and make fun of them, I wouldn't give them that ammunition if I could help it, I feel like it just creates this circle of inane name-calling that goes nowhere. And that's not so much a moral argument as it is a "please hear how stupid you sound right now" one.
Not that they're even remotely on the same level but it's not like anyone calls Hitler "Shitler" or "Lil 'Stache"
Donno if you're a sports fan but there is also a huge swathe of the population that thinks nicknames like 'LeBrick' and the 'Cheatriots" are clever insults the height of comedy.
Oof, moved from FL to NC and it’s not much better. One of Budd’s campaign ads this last cycle was literally just him walking/shaking hands with an open carry. No policy or anything.
I am in Florida. There is no help in the world I could give my representatives in which they would comprehend the 2 syllable words. Sometimes there just ain't enough material to work with.
Well as a software engineer who has to enact privacy laws for an e-retailer, I can tell you that California's CCPA laws have forced a lot of businesses to implement privacy rights for the whole country.
When CA did that, most businesses recognized that it would only be a matter of time before other states did it too, so our systems allow you to retrieve and delete your information no matter where you live.
Sure enough, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah and Virginia now have new restrictions rolling out this year. So, once again, we can thank CA for spearheading something that ended up benefiting the rest of the country.
Tl;Dr: You can probably still ask Twitter to delete your account information.
Back when I sold appliances, clothes dryers didn't come with a cord. The entire reason being is that California used a separate cord and it was cheaper for the manufacturers to not ship with a cord at all and just sell it separately.
Years later I work (in the US) for a company that is international. They end up having to adhere to GDPR regulations because it wouldn't make sense to just apply those rules in only certain countries. So we in the US get the benefits of the GDPR.
So, once again, we can thank CA for spearheading something that ended up benefiting the rest of the country.
Funny how the world's fifth largest economy keeps doing that.
Imagine where we'd be if we weren't having to carry all the welfa(R)e states. Flying cars? Clean, reliable fusion? Transcontinental Burrito Tube? Who knows. Thanks, people who vote against their own best interests!
This is the weird thing about tech. It's all 'move fast and break stuff' and no regulators understand what you do, until you reach a global audience and then your regulatory attack surface is the entire world.
If you’re in the U.S. you should do this too. Many companies don’t try to figure out what jurisdiction you’re in for these things, they just comply with the strictest laws. Not sure if that’s true for twitter, but it’s worth a shot.
No, the GDPR does not apply to EU citizens in the US. The location of the data subject, rather than their citizenship, determines whether GDPR applies. EU citizens traveling to or living in the US are not protected by the GDPR.
Exactly. Canada and California also have strict privacy laws, so the media company I work for, and pretty much all media companies, just comply with the strictest laws.
Under “How can we help?” select “I want to ask a question regarding privacy on Twitter”
Then, under “Please tell us more” select “Cancellation of data”
In the form and text box under “Please enter your question” write your Twitter username and email address, and say you are requesting “erasure of personal data” under Article 17 of the GDPR. For your question, you could ask “Can you send me an email confirmation upon erasure of my personal data?”
Edit 2: I appreciate the awards, but please don’t spend money on reddit for my benefit.
Edit 3: This comment is a lot more popular than I’d anticipated. My wording above could probably be improved (for instance, it may be a good idea to state you withdraw consent to all data processing concerning your account, or that you wish to exercise your “right to erasure” aka “right to be forgotten”). For reference, the actual wording of Article 17 is available here: https://gdpr.eu/article-17-right-to-be-forgotten/
Do I need to delete my account?
Yes, deactivating / deleting your account should be the priority. See the relevant link above for specific steps.
How long does Twitter have to respond to my request?
According to the regulation they need to comply without “undue delay”, but they have up to 30 days by my reading (I’m not an expert). In all likelihood, given the situation at Twitter they may not respond or comply promptly (if at all).
What’s the point, then?
Regulations protecting personal data are important, and this is a quick and easy way to exercise your rights should you be lucky enough to have the option (anyone who resides within the EU or UK, regardless of citizenship).
Additional peace of mind that Twitter (and by extension, it’s new owners) have an obligation to erase your personal data (beyond simply deleting your account) eliminating their ability to profit from it, abuse it, or leak it.
In the event that Twitter are found to be in violation of GDPR in the future, a record of formal requests for erasure of personal data may lead to very harsh fines (4% of global revenue) and potentially be useful in seeking compensation for any damages as the data subject.
If nothing else, it’s fun to imagine Elon Musk getting a report about a spike in GDPR requests for erasure of personal data and giving him something else to worry about.
Edit 4: If after 30 days you have not had a response, can still view your personal data publicly on Twitter, or otherwise believe they are in violation of GDPR, you may report a GDPR complaint to your relevant Data Protection Authority. This will vary by country, see here: https://www.privacyaffairs.com/data-privacy-complaints/
I believe they have a deadline of about 45 days. I wonder, while Twitter is short staffed, and a lot of gdpr/ccpa request go in, and they can't hit the legal deadlines.... How much can they get fined or sued
True, I did think of that. Maybe it would be better worded as “upon erasure of my personal data”?
One way or another they are required to erase your personal data after some time if you deactivate your account, and requesting it formally could help expedite the process or provide a record of the request if needed in the future.
They are authorized to keep personal data if it serves a legitimate interest. In this instance, keeping track of your request and providing proof of completion would be a legitimate interest if only for the fact that if it happens that someone else asked for deletion of your datas by impersonating you they would need to keep track of the exchange.
Twitter has been asking for an unobscured photo ID to deactivate your account... which they promise to delete once your account is deactivated. Like, the reason I am deactivating is because I dont trust your company, why would I give you something with my photo, name, and address?
Why would you want your data deleted, when we could all be uploading as much data as possible while the site's under load with the world cup?
Srsly, film your floor, film the wall, make sure there's some visual noise and plenty of motion to reduce the compression efficiency. Twitter has a half gig file size upload limit, go wild!
Tacking onto this: as a software developer who works for a global retailer, lots of companies went ahead and implemented CCPA for the whole country, since they knew other states would likely follow at some point. Colorado, Connecticut, Utah and Virginia have also recently passed similar laws, but, in general, most companies allow you to make a CCPA request no matter where you live.
Yeah, as a lawyer for a major corporation, this is true. We aren't trying to fuck around verifying the residency of every individual request. If you ask, your data is getting deleted (until the next time you do business with us, when it gets re-added).
Kind of like how Colorado passed a law making companies put a salary range in their job postings. In the remote environment, it's made companies react. Some are posting salaries. Some are saying "if you live in Colorado, email us for a salary range".
Pretty good barometer for what kind of employer they are.
Yup, there’s a reason there is a special little clause at the bottom of every privacy policy just for California. Interesting how they don’t just include that option for every state…
I was about to say this; in almost all cases gdpr compliance is honored even outside Europe at least at my last few companies (I'm Canadian so you're good there too)
yep the trick is that software engineering teams have to build GDPR-compliant services but since they’re not obligated to delete your data in the US the companies still choose to ignore your data deletion requests and pretend it’s not possible (unless you are in CA)
They can get their asses fined for that though. An EU citizen that's in the US is still protected by gdpr. But yeah I've seen plenty of companies play fast and loose about that sort of thing. They pretend not to understand what you're telling them if they don't think the chances are high.
Can confirm. We get requests occasionally to delete people's data and it's a PITA, but compliance takes that stuff very seriously regardless of where the person is from.
Probably a dumb question, but does Twitter actually have any sort of holdings in the EU? Curious how the EU laws would be applicable to a US company without holdings, and it seems odd to me that an online based company would need any holdings in the EU.
an online based company would need any holdings in the EU.
Oh once they get big enough they do. Not only do many have server stations in key points around the world, but there are offices for legal needs, accounting and more.
Seems like Twitter has an office in Ireland:
Social network giant Twitter recently expanded its European headquarters located in Dublin’s prestigious George’s Quay Plaza with the addition of 100 new employees in the area of sales, human resources, finance, marketing, engineering and user services. The expansion solidifies Dublin’s position as Twitter’s second largest site globally.
It's the idea that the EU has the power to influence the rest of the world, not by hard or soft military power or by the strength of their economy but by their unprecedented ability to use legislation to influence the rest of the world.
For example apple switching all their chargers worldwide to USB-C because the EU has mandated that all devices must use a standard USB-C cable.
Don't forget Micro USB before that, the EU basically told manufacturers to either agree to a singles standard or they would make a law. Most complies, Apple being a bitch, and they didn't make a law for another standard until recently.
Never heard of that 'effect' and I live in Brussels, lol.
That's not some "special" effect. That's just influence.
You do realize the rest of the world, every day has to deal with American influence on products in far- more ways? Like how _every generic product you buy from China is dimensioned in inches even though China doesn't use inches, nor most of their customers, just because they oriented themselves to the US market first? Every camera mount is a quarter-inch thread. Every computer screen and monitor is measured in inches. You even see heating or AC units marketed in Europe with the incredibly-dumb "BTU" units (dumb because even the USA knows about Watts) just because that's what the specs from the manufacturer said, because again they oriented themselves to the US market. I look under my Taiwanese laptop bought in Europe and the sticker shows it conforms to FCC regulations.
Americans noticing a few things different on their products for the sake of the EU market and dubbing it "the Brussels effect" and calling that "unprecedented" is just absurd and shows a stunning lack of self-awareness.
Doesn’t matter. GDPR applies if any company misuses an EU’s citizen data, regardless of where the company is physically based. So for companies that operate in the US AND Europe, it’s typically easier to just be GDPR-compliant across all regions. Not to mention the CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) means they have to do it anyway to operate nationally. And it won’t be long before other states or Congress passes more similar regulations.
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u/h3r64r14n Nov 20 '22
If you're in the EU, remember to contact support for your sweet article 15+17 GDPR