X, formerly known as Twitter, recently announced that it may start collecting biometric and employment information from its users. This expansion of personal data collection was disclosed in an update to the company’s privacy policy, which introduced two new sections related to the new data collection practice.
According to X’s privacy policy, the collection of biometric information such as fingerprints or facial recognition data will be done with the user’s consent and for safety, security, and identification purposes. Additionally, under the new “job applications” section, X stated that it may collect users’ employment and educational history.
The company also revealed that it could gather information related to employment preferences, skills, job search activity, and engagement in order to suggest potential job openings, share that information with potential employers, or target users with advertising.
For X Premium users, there will be an option to provide a government ID and a selfie image for verification purposes. X clarified that it may extract biometric data from both the government ID and selfie image for matching purposes, with the goal of tying an account to a real person and improving platform security.
X’s decision to collect these types of personal information aligns with practices already adopted by other social media platforms. The policy adjustment comes as X’s owner, Elon Musk, seeks to transform the platform into an “everything app” that could offer financial services and other features similar to the popular Chinese app WeChat.
Furthermore, this move coincides with the implementation of regulatory initiatives worldwide that require social media companies to verify their users’ ages. Many age-assurance services rely on users uploading copies of their government-issued identification or selfies, which are then analyzed using artificial intelligence.
However, in a recent development, a federal judge temporarily blocked an Arkansas law that mandated age verification for social media platforms. This ruling came just hours before the law was set to take effect.
As X expands its data collection practices, it raises concerns about user privacy and the potential misuse of personal information. It remains to be seen how users will respond to these changes and whether other regulatory bodies will follow suit to enhance privacy protection in the social media landscape.