The actions will settle investigations into security failures that led to overlapping data breaches affecting hundreds of millions of customers.

The telecom will pay half in the form of a fine, while the other half will serve as a down payment for improvements to data security and…

Encryption is the best way to keep the data out of the hands of hackers and foreign adversaries, senators say.

Whistleblower Peiter "Mudge" Zatko said that "if you're not placing foreign agents into Twitter … you're most likely not doing your job."

Twitter confirmed Friday that a bad actor used a vulnerability to match private information with potentially anonymous Twitter accounts.

Sen. Ron Wyden said privacy rules aren't being followed, putting thousands of Americans at risk of having their most sensitive data exposed.

Other countries seeking data sharing agreements similar to the one with the U.K. include Turkey, Japan, India and most of Europe.

The bill tasks the Department of Commerce with creating new export rules.

The newly proposed federal privacy framework comes with protections for biometric data and against discrimination.

The practice violates federal law and a 2011 order from the FTC, which alleged Twitter's failure to safeguard user data led to two breaches.