REPORTING AND JOURNALISM FROM
CONNELL McSHANE.
THANK YOU SO MUCH.
JOINING US TECH POLICY ANALYST
WILL THIBAULT FROM THE HERITAGE
FOUNDATION.
YOUR REACTION TO THAT STORY?
IT IS GOOD TO SEE YOU, WILL.
>> THANKS, LIZ.
IT IS STRIKING TESTIMONY BUT I
HOPE IT IS THE LAST TESTIMONY
THE U.S. CONGRESS NEEDS TO TAKE
SOME ACTION HERE.
YOU’RE RIGHT, WE DON’T KNOW IF
IT IS ONE CHINESE SPY WHO WORKED
AT TWITTER.
WE DON’T KNOW IF THERE ARE
DOZENS.
WE DON’T KNOW THERE IS NO LAW
THAT ACTUALLY RESPECTS THE
NATURE OF DIGITAL LIFE IN THE 20
FIRST CENTURY AND --
ELIZABETH: BUT THEY’RE SETTING
THE NATIONAL CONVERSATION,
RIGHT, HELPING TO, RIGHT?
>> THEY CERTAINLY ARE BUT I
THINK THAT IS ALL THE MORE
REASON WHY THERE HAS TO BE SOME
BASIC RULES OF THE ROAD.
TRANSPARENCY REQUIREMENTS,
MINIMUM STANDARDS OF RESPECT FOR
PRIVATE PRIVACY AND USER DATA
THAT ARE ESTABLISHED BY CONGRESS
BECAUSE THE QUOTE FROM THERE WAS
TELLING.
THEY’RE ALWAYS, THE COMPANIES
THEMSELVES ARE ALWAYS GOING TO
ERR ON THE SIDE OF GROWTH, EVEN
IF IT MEANS HIRING MORE FOREIGN
AGENTS, EVEN MEANS EXPOSING MORE
USER DATA.
IT’S A LAWMAKERS’S JOB AS FAR
AS --
>> ALLOW CHINESE AGENTS ON AS
YOU SHADOW BAN CONSERVATIVES
THAT IS A HECK OF A BUSINESS
MODEL.
I WOULD LIKE YOUR REACTION TO
THIS, TWITTER IS CALLING ZATKO’S
EVENTS.
WATCH THIS.
>> TWITTER LEADERSHIP IS
MISLEADING THE PUBLIC LAWMAKERS
REGULATORS, AND EVEN ITS OWN
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
THE COMPANY’S CYBERSECURITY
FAILURES MAKE IT VULNERABLE TO
EXPLOITATION, CAUSING REAL HARM
TO REAL PEOPLE.
WHEN AN INFLUENTIAL MEDIA
PLATFORM CAN BE COMPROMISED BY
TEENAGERS, THIEVES AND SPIES AND
THE COMPANY REPEATEDLY CREATES
SECURITY PROBLEMS ON THEIR OWN
THIS IS A BIG DEAL FOR ALL OF
US.
>> 4,000ISH EMPLOYEES WOULD HAVE
HAD ACCESS TO LIVE USER DATA ALL
OVER TWITTER.
>> WE’VE LEARNED THAT PERSONAL
DATA FROM TWITTER USERS WAS
POTENTIALLY EXPOSED TO FOREIGN
INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES.
INDIA WAS ABLE TO PLACE AT LEAST
TWO SUSPECT FOREIGN ASSETS
WITHIN TWITTER.
FBI NOTIFIED TWITTER OF AT LEAST
ONE CHINESE AGENT, IN THE
COUNTRY.
THE COMPANY I SHOULD SAY.
>> WILL, OKAY, YOU HEARD THAT,
RIGHT, WILL?
THOUSANDS OF TWITTER WORKERS CAN
FIND OUT USER’S EXACT LOCATION
EVERY DAY, MAYBE DOCKS DOX WHO
KNOWS?
CHINESE FOREIGN AGENTS WORK AT
TWITTER BEHIND THE SCENES?
>> IT IS SHOCKING, BUT IT IS NOT
SIMPLY A LOCATION OR WHAT DATA
PUTS ON TWITTER BUT ALL THE
OTHER APPLICATIONS USER MIGHT
HAVE ON THE SAME PHONE AS
TWITTER.
AND YOU KNOW, I FOUND IT A
LITTLE FUNNY THAT SOME
SENATORS --
ELIZABETH: WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY
THAT?
STAY WITH ME ON THATS.
YOU’RE SAYING IF YOU HAVE THE
TWITTER APP ON YOUR PHONE THEY
CAN ACCESS OTHER APPS ON YOUR
PHONE?
>> RIGHT.
CROSS APP TRACKING ALLOWS AN
APPLICATION LIKE TWITTER TO
UNDERSTAND WHAT ELSE YOU DO ON
YOUR iPHONE, WHICH MEANS THEY
MIGHT HAVE ACCESS TO A GOOGLE
SEARCH THAT TAKES PLACE ON THAT
SAME PHONE OR MAYBE, MAYBE
YOU’RE A YOUNG WOMAN CHECKING
PREGNANCY APP.
MAYBE YOU’RE CHECKING THEIR BANK
ACCOUNT.
ALL OF THAT INFORMATION IS
ACCESSIBLE BECAUSE OF THE NATURE
OF CROSS APP TRACKING THAT
HAPPENS ALMOST BY DEFAULT ON SO
MANY PHONES.
THE FACT --
ELIZABETH: WHY WOULD FOREIGN
AGENTS DON’T WANT THAT
INFORMATION?
>> WE DON’T KNOW.
PERHAPS THEY’RE ABLE TO COLLECT
SO MUCH DATA THEY CAN IDENTIFIED
PHONES ON U.S. MILITARY BASES,
NEAR SECURE FACILITIES.
WHO KNOWS WHAT BLUETOOTH SIGNALS
THEY CAN USE TO GARNER SENSITIVE
INFORMATION?
MAYBE THEY HIJACK ACCOUNTS TO
CREATE MASS PANIC IN INSTANCE OF
POLITICAL INSTABILITY.
IN THE UNITED STATES.
ELIZABETH: STAY ON THIS.
IF I WORK AT THE PENTAGON AND I
HAVE TWITTER ON MY PHONE,
SOMEBODY WHOSE A FOREIGN ASSET
INSIDE OF TWITTER, I’M JUST
SPECULATING HERE,
HYPOTHETICALLY, THEY COULD LOOK
AT DEFENSE WORKERS, OTHER APPS
THEY’RE ACCESSING?
>> IF THEY’RE USING THOSE APPS
ON THE PHONE WITH THEIR TWITTER
APP, YES.
AT THE VERY LEAST, BY THE,
VIRTUE OF THAT DEFENSE EMPLOYEE
USING TWITTER, HAVING A TWITTER
ACCOUNT, THE CHINESE SPY KNOWS
THAT PERSON WORKS AT THE
PENTAGON.
MAYBE THAT FLAGS FOR THE CHINESE
GOVERNMENT THROUGH THIS TWITTER
EMPLOYEE, THAT’S A PERSON WORTH
PURSUING, WORTH FINDING OUT MORE
ABOUT AND I THINK THE THREATS
ARE UNTOLD.
IT IS EXACTLY THE FACT THAT WE
DON’T KNOW WHICH IS SO SCARY.
IT IS NOT JUST THE CHINESE.
THIS IS, THIS IS A THREAT ALL
SILICON VALLEY COMPANIES POSE TO
AMERICANS BECAUSE THEIR ACCESS
TO PRIVATE USER DATA IS
ESSENTIALLY UNREGULATED AND IT
IS THREATENING FROM THE CHINESE.
IT IS ALSO THREATENING FROM
THESE TECH OLIGARCHS ARE TRYING
TO IMPOSE A CERTAIN IDEOLOGY ON
AMERICANS AND WE SHOULD BE
CONCERNED ABOUT BOTH.