Elon Musk tries again to escape FTC audits of X data handling

Key points

• Critics hope to keep Elon Musk from escaping a strict data-privacy order imposed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) shortly before he took over Twitter.
• The FTC order placed restrictions on X’s data use for 20 years, while requiring regular independent audits and granting the agency authority to request documents as needed to ensure compliance.
• The FTC’s action came after Twitter voluntarily disclosed that between May 2013 and September 2019, a coding error accidentally allowed phone numbers and email addresses that users shared for two-factor authentication purposes to be used for targeted aimed at those same users.
• In a settlement that came just months before Musk’s 2022 takeover, Twitter agreed to pay $150 million and to allow the FTC to monitor the platform’s data-handling practices until 2042 in order to protect user privacy.
• Musk tried and failed to get the order revoked in 2023. At that time, Musk accused the...