Statewide Iowa — A whistleblower, and the former senior data security official, at Twitter is testifying today, September 13th, before the US Senate Judiciary Committee.
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, who sits on the panel, says the whistleblower has revealed that the social media platform isn’t doing an adequate job of protecting users’ personal information, which Grassley says raises serious privacy concerns as well as national security issues.
For years, members of Congress have been holding hearings about security issues as they relate to social media giants, stretching back to alleged Russian tampering with the US elections in 2016, but no specific bills have been passed to bring about change.
Grassley, a Republican, says he uses Twitter frequently to keep his constituents in Iowa informed on everything from public policy to his run-ins with deer. The 88-year-old was asked if he’s concerned about the security of his Twitter account.
Grassley says the whistleblower says Twitter officials were aware of the security vulnerabilities but did nothing, choosing to put profits ahead of user privacy.
