Elon Musk’s X to collect user’s facial data, fingerprints, employment and educational details: Explained

Elon Musk has always bragged about how user privacy has always come first at X, formerly known as Twitter. According to a Bloomberg report, the social media site is now planning to gather users’ biometric information and educational background. This is a section of X’s revised privacy statement, which will be put into effect starting on September 29.

According to the report, biometrics are only required for premium subscribers. Additionally, they will have the choice to submit a photocopy of their government ID for verification. For matching purposes, the biometric information may be derived from both the ID and the photos.

A spokeswoman for X responded to Bloomberg’s inquiry regarding the update’s motivation by saying, “This will additionally help us tie, for those that choose, an account to a real person by processing their government-issued ID. This will also help X fight impersonation attempts and make the platform more secure.”

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According to X’s amended policy, “Based on your consent, we may collect and use your biometric information for safety, security, and identification purposes.” Notably, this doesn’t specify exactly what information falls under the category of biometric data, which typically includes traits like a person’s face or fingerprints. X has not specified how it intends to gather this information.

According to X’s policy, educational information and employment history will be gathered to recommend possible positions to users. “We may collect and use your personal information (such as your employment history, educational history, employment preferences, skills and abilities, job search activity and engagement, and so on) to recommend potential jobs for you, to share with potential employers when you apply for a job, to enable employers to find potential candidates, and to show you more relevant advertising.”

Intriguingly, X recently established an official handle @Xhiring, implying that it is also entering the job search vertical. The platform now enables verified businesses to post job vacancies on their profiles as a beta feature of X.

Musk has promised that users will soon be able to make audio and video calls on the platform without a phone number since he is fully committed to making X an all-encompassing app. This function will work with iOS, Android, Mac, and PC.

(With inputs from Bloomberg)

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