Twitter app for Android maybe going a little bit too far

I got an update notification a couple days ago. I must be one of the few users which does actually read the messages, and I noticed that this app now requires accessing contacts data. Up to which extent?

To this (I highlighted the most shocking parts):

READ YOUR CONTACTS Allows the app to read data about your contacts stored on your tablet, including the frequency with which you've called, emailed, or communicated in other ways with specific individuals. This permission allows apps to save your contact data, and malicious apps may share contact data without your knowledge. MODIFY YOUR CONTACTS Allows the app to modify the data about your contacts stored on your tablet, including the frequency with which you've called, emailed, or communicated in other ways with specific contacts. This permission allows apps to delete contact data.

Twitter, do you really need to know about my private contacts? Really?

Of course, there's the issue of the Play store not really inviting/asking developers to explain why do they need each permission. Some developers already put this in the description, but Twitter don't, and their privacy policy doesn't address this specifically, other than saying that I can "delete my contacts", but it doesn't allow me to see which contacts have already been uploaded there, if any.

Yes, I know a solution is to root my phone, install something like Cyanogen and reject nasty permissions on each individual nasty app. Another solution is that corporations behave ethically and stop data mining us.

Although probably the first solution has more chances to actually be implemented than the second. Or maybe I could just uninstall the app altogether! :-D