Twitter: network wants to collect biometric data – 09/06/2023 – Tech

OX (formerly Twitter) has updated its privacy policy to include a new type of user data it intends to collect: biometrics.

“Based on your consent, we may collect and use your biometric information for security, safety and identification purposes,” the company said in its new policy. X does not define what it considers biometric, although other companies have used the term to describe data obtained from a person’s face, eyes and fingerprints.

A representative for X, which is based in San Francisco, confirmed the new policy change.

Social media companies have long come under fire from users and regulators around the world for the information they collect and how they use that data, including selling advertising tailored to a person’s interests and search history. Elon Musk, who bought Twitter last year, said one of his priorities is ridding the platform of inauthentic accounts and encouraging more users to use a service that applies a blue verification badge indicating that the user has paid $8 a month. and is most likely human.

X said the biometrics are for premium users and will give them the option to provide their government ID and a photo, to add a layer of verification. Biometric data can be extracted from both for matching purposes. “It will also help us link, for those who choose, an account to a real person through the processing of their government-issued ID,” X said in a statement. “It will also help X fight impersonation attempts and make the platform more secure.”

Following the policy update, Musk announced that X users will be able to make video and audio calls through the platform without having to share their phone number, in the latest expansion of services as he seeks to create an “all-in-one app”. .

X said it also intends to collect information about users’ employment and education history. “We may collect and use your personal information (such as employment history, educational background, employment preferences, skills and abilities, job search activity and engagement, and so on) to recommend jobs for you, share with potential employers when you apply for a job, allow employers to find potential candidates, and show you more relevant ads,” according to the updated privacy policy.

The previous policy, in effect through Sept. 29, did not include references to biometrics or employment and work history.

A class-action lawsuit filed earlier this year alleged that X captured, stored, and misused the biometric data of Illinois residents without consent. X “failed to adequately inform people who interacted (knowingly or otherwise) with Twitter that Twitter collects and/or stores their biometric identifiers in every photograph that contains a face that is uploaded to Twitter,” according to the lawsuit. which was filed on July 11.