Twitter has warned that government plans to record the internet and mobile phone use of Britons could expose it to a spate of privacy lawsuits from web users outside the UK.

The social networking company said it was highly likely that the online activity of non-UK citizens would be unwittingly collected under the controversial surveillance plans, leaving communications firms vulnerable to legal action taken in foreign jurisdictions.

Twitter's caution over the so-called "snoopers' charter" is contained in its written submission to the joint Commons and Lords committee on the draft communications bill, published this week.

The draft bill has been widely criticised by internet companies, who have warned that it will infringe web users' right to privacy and is an abuse of the power of the state.

Twitter said in its submission: "We would be interested to understand what consideration was given to issues of proportionality in the drafting of this provision as well as some cross-jurisdictional challenges which may arise.

"For example, it is possible and indeed highly likely that this type of monitoring would result in the collection and retention of data on users who are outside of United Kingdom.

"This has the potential to place us in a legally untenable position with respect to privacy, data retention and data protection laws elsewhere in the world."

Twitter urged the government to explain how the proposals would work with foreign legislation, including data protection and privacy laws in the US and the European Union data retention and protection directives.

The San Francisco-based company also raised fears about a perceived lack of transparency in the monitoring proposals. It said there did not appear to be a process for alerting members of the public when authorities had made a request for their data.

Twitter's written submission avoided some of the more pointed language used by other internet companies, but did warn that the surveillance plans could hamper the UK's standing overseas.

It said: "While it is one thing for a government which has incorporated the European Convention of Human Rights into domestic law to seek to assert authority over overseas companies, it would be of quite a different order for the government of a less democratic country to seek to exercise similar powers.

"In such a case, however, there is a risk that the standing of the UK government and UK companies in resisting such data collection from its own companies could be significantly diluted. Indeed, many dissidents abroad, such as Michael Anti in China, count upon Western democracies to lead by example and to pressure their own governments to uphold essential internet freedoms."

Under the proposals, internet service providers would be required to store all details of customers' website visits and email exchanges for a year. The data would include the time and data of messages – including telephone calls and text messages – but not their content.

Authorities have said they need the extended monitoring powers to keep pace with sophisticated modern crime. The security minister, James Brokenshire, told the joint parliamentary committee earlier this month: "Communications data plays a major role in virtually all counter-terrorism operations and about 95% of all serious crime investigations.

"It is the who, where and when of communication, not the content. The communications data bill will not give any new powers to the police, this will not introduce large-scale live monitoring of all emails sent and received. Instead, it will simply ensure current powers are adapted for modern-day communication maintaining strong safeguards."

Twitter has more than 10 million active users in the UK, out of 140 million worldwide. The 140 character social network has exploded in popularity over the past two years as a flood of celebrities, sports stars and TV personalities have used the site to trade updates with fans.