5 ms·

"When an advertiser uploaded their marketing list, we may have matched people on Twitter to their list based on the email or phone number the Twitter account ho

"When an advertiser uploaded their marketing list, we may have matched people on Twitter to their list based on the email or phone number the Twitter account holder provided for safety and security purposes. This was an error and we apologize." This doesn't happen accidentally, someone had to engineer, test and build a system that performed reliable targeting.

alxmdev 7y ago
Accidents happen all the time there though, like when they accidentally lock your new account minutes after you create it, and all but force you to give them your phone number in order to reinstate it.
- sofaofthedamned 7y ago
  Same happened to me. However, I did do a support request which 2 days later agreed to let me in without a phone number. 2 days. I think we can file this under 'dark patterns' and finally realise Twitter is attempting to be as abusive as Facebook.
- m463 7y ago
  A week or two ago anything I did with my hacker news account took me to google to solve a recaptcha. (I had blocked google when accessing this site, thanks umatrix) Or I could email them to unblock it (my account has no email address associated with it)
  - dang 7y ago
    Depending on what you mean by "a week or two ago", this was probably because of a botnet attack HN was under in mid-September, when we resorted to turning on recaptcha for logins for a while. We know why people hate this and want to avoid it in the future, but defending HN against attack took priority.
- wpietri 7y ago
  I haven't worked there in a while, but you would not believe the volume of fake account creation they get. Spammers. Fraudsters. Jerks creating a second (or 20th) account to bypass restrictions. And more recently, state actors trying to manipulate things. So I am inclined to cut them some slack on the, "Please prove you're a real user" stuff.
bengotow 7y ago
Yeah this is hilarious. I feel like tech companies get away with this because the internet is more "mysterious". This is no different than a chemical plant "accidentally" building a conduit a quarter mile and dumping waste into a river. Of course they know.
- sdegutis 7y ago
  They never said it was an accident. They just said it was an error, which is true! They did err.
  - imihai1988 7y ago
    why call it error ? there was no undefined behavior; someone actually implemented and tested whether it worked properly. why not call it a mistake? this was a mistake. calling it an error makes it sound like it was not on purpose.
    - rzzzt 7y ago
      I was wondering about this as well, ie. if there is a qualitative difference between error and mistake. (English is not my first language, so can't really tell.)
      - rabidrat 7y ago
        IMO "mistake" implies an incorrect choice, whereas "error" implies an incorrect result. A mistake may or may not cause an error (and an error may or may not be caused by a mistake). There seems to be an element of "could have been done differently" in "mistake" that is absent in "error". Recently I read an article saying that programmers should reserve "error" for the mathematical usage of "distance from correct result" (as in, behavior of the program), and refer to their bugs and other mistakes as "blunders" instead. I have to think on it more but I like the overall direction of the distinction.
    - rdiddly 7y ago
      They did call it a mistake, later in the text. Not appreciably different from an error, in my opinion.
Swizec 7y ago
It’s a mistake or an error, not an accident. They mistakenly thought this is fine. They made an error in judgement. Etc
quickthrower2 7y ago
I'm not sure about processes at 'big' companies like Twitter but in my experience if an inexperienced developer sees a field in a DB or API it's fair game to use it even if inappropriate, and this could be the source of the mistake. So perhaps one team forgot to secure it property (based on role authorisation) and another team saw the field and didn't think it was something they shouldn't use (maybe an OKR or some target as kicking them in the direction of being eager to use what they could get). Obviously nothing happened accidentally at a coding level, but at a business-constraint understanding level a mistake may have been made.
- hazelnut 7y ago
  Pretty sure there was a product manager who drove the project. This person needs to understand where the data is coming from and where it flows to. This person is also responsible for checking with legal to see that everything is in line. Besides that, there're cycles of product reviews with directors and VP's.
- munk-a 7y ago
  I could buy that marketing/sales snuck around dev's oversight to manually get a copy of that to use - possibly by enlisting a poor junior dev to do an export - but there was definitely intent. How many times have you, during the process of doing work, said "Oh hey, I think this might be a nice feature to work on for the next 3-4 days" and just not done any of your normally scheduled work?
  - jethro_tell 7y ago
    That shouldn't be possible though. If you classify data in your database as pii and classified but then let any one with door access in there you're really doing something wrong. To add to that, what are the chances the team that owns that database didn't notice a significant uptick in requests from a new caller? I'd say a program like this is probably enough to tip over a service if it's not coordinated.
    - munk-a 7y ago
LegitShady 7y ago
It was an error (as in it was against the law and they got caught), it wasn't an accident. Read what they wrote not what they're implying. I promise you their lawyer vetted it.
sodosopa 7y ago
Facebook blocked accounts created for my Tutanota accounts within minutes. Real names but I hide a few things. I setup one for my private email only domain I use through Tutanota and it finally worked. But they continue to add a banner asking for a phone number

alxmdev 7y ago

Accidents happen all the time there though, like when they accidentally lock your new account minutes after you create it, and all but force you to give them your phone number in order to reinstate it.

sofaofthedamned 7y ago
Same happened to me. However, I did do a support request which 2 days later agreed to let me in without a phone number. 2 days. I think we can file this under 'dark patterns' and finally realise Twitter is attempting to be as abusive as Facebook.
m463 7y ago
A week or two ago anything I did with my hacker news account took me to google to solve a recaptcha. (I had blocked google when accessing this site, thanks umatrix) Or I could email them to unblock it (my account has no email address associated with it)
- dang 7y ago
  Depending on what you mean by "a week or two ago", this was probably because of a botnet attack HN was under in mid-September, when we resorted to turning on recaptcha for logins for a while. We know why people hate this and want to avoid it in the future, but defending HN against attack took priority.
wpietri 7y ago
I haven't worked there in a while, but you would not believe the volume of fake account creation they get. Spammers. Fraudsters. Jerks creating a second (or 20th) account to bypass restrictions. And more recently, state actors trying to manipulate things. So I am inclined to cut them some slack on the, "Please prove you're a real user" stuff.

bengotow 7y ago

Yeah this is hilarious. I feel like tech companies get away with this because the internet is more "mysterious". This is no different than a chemical plant "accidentally" building a conduit a quarter mile and dumping waste into a river. Of course they know.

sdegutis 7y ago
They never said it was an accident. They just said it was an error, which is true! They did err.
- imihai1988 7y ago
  why call it error ? there was no undefined behavior; someone actually implemented and tested whether it worked properly. why not call it a mistake? this was a mistake. calling it an error makes it sound like it was not on purpose.
  - rzzzt 7y ago
    I was wondering about this as well, ie. if there is a qualitative difference between error and mistake. (English is not my first language, so can't really tell.)
    - rabidrat 7y ago
      IMO "mistake" implies an incorrect choice, whereas "error" implies an incorrect result. A mistake may or may not cause an error (and an error may or may not be caused by a mistake). There seems to be an element of "could have been done differently" in "mistake" that is absent in "error". Recently I read an article saying that programmers should reserve "error" for the mathematical usage of "distance from correct result" (as in, behavior of the program), and refer to their bugs and other mistakes as "blunders" instead. I have to think on it more but I like the overall direction of the distinction.
  - rdiddly 7y ago
    They did call it a mistake, later in the text. Not appreciably different from an error, in my opinion.

Swizec 7y ago

It’s a mistake or an error, not an accident. They mistakenly thought this is fine. They made an error in judgement. Etc

quickthrower2 7y ago

I'm not sure about processes at 'big' companies like Twitter but in my experience if an inexperienced developer sees a field in a DB or API it's fair game to use it even if inappropriate, and this could be the source of the mistake. So perhaps one team forgot to secure it property (based on role authorisation) and another team saw the field and didn't think it was something they shouldn't use (maybe an OKR or some target as kicking them in the direction of being eager to use what they could get). Obviously nothing happened accidentally at a coding level, but at a business-constraint understanding level a mistake may have been made.

hazelnut 7y ago
Pretty sure there was a product manager who drove the project. This person needs to understand where the data is coming from and where it flows to. This person is also responsible for checking with legal to see that everything is in line. Besides that, there're cycles of product reviews with directors and VP's.
munk-a 7y ago
I could buy that marketing/sales snuck around dev's oversight to manually get a copy of that to use - possibly by enlisting a poor junior dev to do an export - but there was definitely intent. How many times have you, during the process of doing work, said "Oh hey, I think this might be a nice feature to work on for the next 3-4 days" and just not done any of your normally scheduled work?
- jethro_tell 7y ago
  That shouldn't be possible though. If you classify data in your database as pii and classified but then let any one with door access in there you're really doing something wrong. To add to that, what are the chances the team that owns that database didn't notice a significant uptick in requests from a new caller? I'd say a program like this is probably enough to tip over a service if it's not coordinated.
  - munk-a 7y ago

LegitShady 7y ago

It was an error (as in it was against the law and they got caught), it wasn't an accident. Read what they wrote not what they're implying. I promise you their lawyer vetted it.

sodosopa 7y ago

Facebook blocked accounts created for my Tutanota accounts within minutes. Real names but I hide a few things. I setup one for my private email only domain I use through Tutanota and it finally worked. But they continue to add a banner asking for a phone number