Case Study
Open Whisper Systems Praised for Collecting Minimal User Data
Customers and privacy advocates applauded Open Whisper Systems (OWS) after an unsealed...+ Read more
In 2010 Twitter was applauded for standing up for two anonymous users who were frequent critics of Pennsylvania Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett. When Twitter received a subpoena from Pennsylvania prosecutors seeking the identities of the users, it notified the users and gave them a chance to object rather than immediately complying with the demand. The demand was withdrawn after the incident received substantial press coverage and the ACLU intervened. Twitter emerged as one of the heroes of the story for giving its users an opportunity to defend their anonymity.