Will Elon Musk Put Your Twitter DMs at Privacy Risk?

Now that Elon Musk is the owner, your Twitter DMs might be at risk and that's not great news.

It is finally Elon Musk's Twitter after the buyout was finalized. He owns what he previously described as a "de facto town square" for under $44 billion. He also appears to be the owner of all Twitter users' data. Now your Twitter DMs may be read by the owner, Musk!

This might not be good news if you use Twitter and value your online privacy. Twitter has struggled with privacy and security issues for years, and it has been slow to put any potential fixes into action. It is possible that everything you've ever done or said on Twitter, whether it was in public or private, including your direct messages, now belongs to one of the wealthiest individuals on earth, a man infamous for being erratic, foolish, and even spiteful. A man who allegedly intends to get married owns it as well. Your DMs at privacy risk might come true.

According to Twitter, a person can request to have their account deleted, but it takes at least 30 days for that to happen. Even after you think you've erased them, your direct messages (DMs) may continue to exist on Twitter's servers for years. If you're truly concerned, you can cancel your account, but there's no guarantee it will also destroy all of your data.

What is known is that Twitter's direct communications are not end-to-end encrypted, despite demands for this from everyone from US legislators to Musk himself. That implies that Twitter has access to the information in your direct messages (DMs), which many users probably see as the most private or sensitive information the firm possesses of them. The firm "may share, sell, or transfer information about you in connection with a merger, acquisition, sale of assets, or bankruptcy," according to Twitter's privacy policy. That's what just occurred.

Twitter users may want to worry more about their data spilling to everyone than about it leaking to Musk. Twitter already has a poor track record when it comes to security, and Musk may be firing staff members who are crucial to preserving the safeguards the company has in place that work.