Twitter apologizes for squirreling away iPhone user data

Twitter has acknowledged that it stores user data – including info from contact lists and address books – on its servers, sometimes for months at a time.

At issue is a mobile feature called Find Friends, which allows smartphone users to locate real-life friends on Twitter. Results are produced by giving Twitter permission to churn through the contacts on your phone. So far, so good. But after critics raised questions about the functionality, Twitter confirmed that the data was not immediately erased – instead, all of it, including phone numbers and email addresses, remained on Twitter servers for up to 18 months. In a statement, Twitter has promised more clarity on existing privacy policies.