←back to thread

369 points zeech | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0.421s | source
Show context
mindcrash ◴[] No.43804805[source]
Way back then I exposed massive data collection from Twitter by Google which made it possible to plot locations at which you used Twitter in Google Maps by simply putting your Twitter handle into the search field. Somehow they knew about these locations even when you opted out of sharing location data with Twitter (I checked) -- so this was only possible by Twitter privately providing this information to Google.

This "experiment" has since then been shut down, but exposing this and many other other forms of activism permanently has cost me my Twitter account, to the point that asking to reinstate it several times because I was permanently suspended for no valid reason led to X Support directly rerouting every attempt to appeal this decision into the digital trash can.

Let's say nothing surprises me anymore.

replies(4): >>43804814 #>>43805056 #>>43805216 #>>43809182 #
hyperpape ◴[] No.43805056[source]
It's really indefensible to post this without linking to your research to show people what you found.
replies(2): >>43805180 #>>43807007 #
1. NikkiA ◴[] No.43807007[source]
Tweets were geolocated, with a 'see tweets near me' page until about 14 years ago, so it's entirely feasible that at least some of that infrastructure has survived the feature being removed.
replies(1): >>43810525 #
2. mindcrash ◴[] No.43810525[source]
"Tweets near me" was based on people sharing geolocation with Twitter (one of the things you can opt-out of when setting up your profile).

I didn't share any geolocation with Twitter. At least not voluntarily.