<p>X, previously known as Twitter, has updated its privacy policy which entitles it to collect users’ biometric data. The updated policy, which went into effect on September 29, also allows the social media platform to access users’ educational backgrounds and job histories.</p>

<p>The privacy policy changes are introduced ahead of X’s plans to add video and audio call features to the app.</p>

<p>“Based on your consent, we may collect and use your biometric information for safety, security and identification purposes,” X said in its new policy.</p>

<h2><strong>Special changes&nbsp;for premium users</strong></h2>

<p>According to Bloomberg, the platform will collect biometrics data only from premium users. It will also give them the option to add another verification layer on their platform if details like a government ID and an image are also furnished.</p>

<p>“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,” Bloomberg reported citing a statement by X.</p>

<p>Making X safe and free from bots and fake accounts has been the ‘topmost priority’ of US Billionaire Elon Musk since the takeover.</p>

<h2><strong>Audio and video call features to be added</strong></h2>

<p>Earlier, Musk announced that audio and video call features will soon be introduced to the platform. He added that the users need not share their phone numbers to avail of that feature.</p>

<p>“X is the effective global address book … that set of factors is unique,"&nbsp;Musk said.</p>

<p><strong>Watch:&nbsp;The rivalry intensifies as Threads gets a web version</strong></p>

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<p>In recent years, technology giants like Meta, Apple, and Google have encountered backlash and significant penalties from regulators for their practices of gathering and utilising data without obtaining user consent. These companies have been alleged to exploit this information to market personalised advertisements based on users' online activities, purchase behaviours, and search histories.</p>

<h2><strong>Muskified X</strong></h2>

<p>Last October, Musk successfully concluded his $44 billion acquisition of the microblogging platform headquartered in San Francisco. Since then, he has implemented a series of changes.</p>

<p>In December, X reintroduced its premium tier account, previously known as Twitter Blue and now renamed X Premium. This advanced subscription service indicates a user's verification status and comes with a price tag.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/elon-musks-x-will-soon-have-audio-video-call-features-630882"><strong>Also read:&nbsp;Elon Musk`s `X` will soon have audio, video call features</strong></a></p>

<p>For individuals, the premium features can be accessed for a monthly fee starting at $8. Subscribers gain exclusive benefits, including the ability to edit posts, upload 1080p videos, utilise the reader mode, acquire the coveted blue verification checkmark, and compose longer posts.</p>

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X, previously known as Twitter, has updated its privacy policy which entitles it to collect users’ biometric data. The updated policy, which went into effect on September 29, also allows the social media platform to access users’ educational backgrounds and job histories.

X, previously known as Twitter, has updated its privacy policy which entitles it to collect users’ biometric data. The updated policy, which went into effect on September 29, also allows the social media platform to access users’ educational backgrounds and job histories. The privacy policy changes are introduced ahead of X’s plans to add video and audio call features to the app. “Based on your consent, we may collect and use your biometric information for safety, security and identification purposes,” X said in its new policy. Special changes for premium users According to Bloomberg, the platform will collect biometrics data only from premium users. It will also give them the option to add another verification layer on their platform if details like a government ID and an image are also furnished. “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,” Bloomberg reported citing a statement by X. Making X safe and free from bots and fake accounts has been the ‘topmost priority’ of US Billionaire Elon Musk since the takeover. Audio and video call features to be added Earlier, Musk announced that audio and video call features will soon be introduced to the platform. He added that the users need not share their phone numbers to avail of that feature. “X is the effective global address book … that set of factors is unique," Musk said. Watch: The rivalry intensifies as Threads gets a web version × In recent years, technology giants like Meta, Apple, and Google have encountered backlash and significant penalties from regulators for their practices of gathering and utilising data without obtaining user consent. These companies have been alleged to exploit this information to market personalised advertisements based on users' online activities, purchase behaviours, and search histories. Muskified X Last October, Musk successfully concluded his $44 billion acquisition of the microblogging platform headquartered in San Francisco. Since then, he has implemented a series of changes. In December, X reintroduced its premium tier account, previously known as Twitter Blue and now renamed X Premium. This advanced subscription service indicates a user's verification status and comes with a price tag. Also read: Elon Musk`s `X` will soon have audio, video call features For individuals, the premium features can be accessed for a monthly fee starting at $8. Subscribers gain exclusive benefits, including the ability to edit posts, upload 1080p videos, utilise the reader mode, acquire the coveted blue verification checkmark, and compose longer posts. WATCH WION LIVE HERE ×

X brings new privacy policy that allows it to access users' biometric data

<p>CNIL, France's privacy watchdog said on Friday (July 28) that the legality of biometric data collection of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's Worldcoin Project "seems questionable".</p>

<p>Worldcoin, launched on Monday, requires users to provide iris scans for a digital ID and even free cryptocurrency in some countries. Worldcoin's website says it has signed up 2.1 million people over trial in last two years.</p>

<p>Worldcoin has set-up sites in various locations across the world. At these locations people can get their faces scanned by a shiny spherical "orb".</p>

<p>Data regulator in Britain said this week that it will obtain more information about Worldcoin following its launch.</p>

<p>CNIL, the French watchdog, told Reuters that "The legality of this collection seems questionable, as do the conditions for storing biometric data."</p>

<p>CNIL said in a e-mail that investigations had been initiated which revealed that the Bavarian state authority in Germany has jurisdiction, reported Reuters. The watchdog added that the Bavarian authority has since been conducting the investigation.</p>

<p>Worldcoin was "designed to protect individual privacy and has built a robust privacy programme" and is committed to ensuring it meets regulatory requirements, the Worldcoin Foundation said via email, as reported by Reuters.</p>

<p>The Worldcoin Foundation is a Cayman Islands-based entity which describes itself as a "steward of the Worldcoin protocol".</p>

<p>"The Worldcoin Foundation complies with all laws and regulations governing the processing of personal data in the markets where Worldcoin is available," it said.</p>

<p>The Worldcoin Foundation has said that the project is supervised in the EU by the Bavarian State office for Data Protection Supervision</p>

<p>"The project will continue to cooperate with governing bodies on requests for more information about its privacy and data protection practices," it added.</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>

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CNIL, France's privacy watchdog said on Friday (July 28) that the legality of biometric data collection of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's Worldcoin Project "seems questionable".

CNIL, France's privacy watchdog said on Friday (July 28) that the legality of biometric data collection of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's Worldcoin Project "seems questionable". Worldcoin, launched on Monday, requires users to provide iris scans for a digital ID and even free cryptocurrency in some countries. Worldcoin's website says it has signed up 2.1 million people over trial in last two years. Worldcoin has set-up sites in various locations across the world. At these locations people can get their faces scanned by a shiny spherical "orb". Data regulator in Britain said this week that it will obtain more information about Worldcoin following its launch. CNIL, the French watchdog, told Reuters that "The legality of this collection seems questionable, as do the conditions for storing biometric data." CNIL said in a e-mail that investigations had been initiated which revealed that the Bavarian state authority in Germany has jurisdiction, reported Reuters. The watchdog added that the Bavarian authority has since been conducting the investigation. Worldcoin was "designed to protect individual privacy and has built a robust privacy programme" and is committed to ensuring it meets regulatory requirements, the Worldcoin Foundation said via email, as reported by Reuters. The Worldcoin Foundation is a Cayman Islands-based entity which describes itself as a "steward of the Worldcoin protocol". "The Worldcoin Foundation complies with all laws and regulations governing the processing of personal data in the markets where Worldcoin is available," it said. The Worldcoin Foundation has said that the project is supervised in the EU by the Bavarian State office for Data Protection Supervision "The project will continue to cooperate with governing bodies on requests for more information about its privacy and data protection practices," it added. (With inputs from agencies) You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. WATCH WION LIVE HERE ×

French privacy watchdog skeptical about Worldcoin biometric data collection

<p>Over two decades, the United States and its allies spent hundreds of millions of dollars building databases for the Afghan people. The nobly stated goal: Promote law and order and government accountability and modernize a war-ravaged land.</p>

<p>But in the Taliban's lightning seizure of power, most of that digital apparatus,&nbsp;including biometrics for verifying identities,&nbsp;apparently fell into the Taliban hands. Built with few data-protection safeguards, it risks becoming the high-tech jackboots of a surveillance state. As the Taliban get their governing feet, there are worries it will be used for social control and to punish perceived foes.</p>

<p>Putting such data to work constructively boosting education, empowering women, battling corruption&nbsp;requires democratic stability, and these systems were not architected for the prospect of defeat.</p>

<p>"It is a terrible irony,"&nbsp;said Frank Pasquale, Brooklyn Law School scholar of surveillance technologies. "It's a real object lesson in The road to hell is paved with good intentions.'"</p>

<p>Since Kabul fell August&nbsp;15, indications have emerged that government data may have been used in Taliban efforts to identify and intimidate Afghans who worked with the US&nbsp;Forces.</p>

<p>People are getting ominous and threatening phone calls, texts and WhatsApp messages, said Neesha Suarez, constituent services director for Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, an Iraq War veteran whose office is trying to help stranded Afghans who worked with the U.S. Find a way out.</p>

<p><strong>Also read </strong>|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/taliban-open-fire-to-disperse-demonstrators-who-chant-anti-pakistan-slogans-in-kabul-411312">Taliban open fire to disperse demonstrators who chant anti-Pakistan slogans in Kabul</a></p>

<p>A 27-year-old US&nbsp;Contractor in Kabul told The Associated Press he and co-workers who developed a US-funded database used to manage army and police payrolls got phone calls summoning them to the Defense Ministry. He is in hiding, changing his location daily, he said, asking not to be identified for his safety.</p>

<p>In victory, the Taliban's leaders say they are not interested in retribution. Restoring international aid and getting foreign-held assets unfrozen are a priority. There are few signs of the draconian restrictions "especially on women"&nbsp;they imposed when they ruled from 1996 to 2001. There are also no indications that Afghans who worked with Americans have been systematically persecuted.</p>

<p>Ali Karimi, a University of Pennsylvania scholar, is among Afghans unready to trust the Taliban. He worries the databases will give rigid fundamentalist theocrats, known during their insurgency for ruthlessly killing enemy collaborators, "the same capability as an average US&nbsp;Government agency when it comes to surveillance and interception.? The Taliban are on notice that the world will be watching how they wield the data.</p>

<p><strong>Watch</strong></p>

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="http://13.235.153.162/videos/taliban-and-china-representatives-meet-in-kabul-discuss-bilateral-issues-411311/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

<p>"All Afghans and their international partners have an obligation together to ensure sensitive government data only be used for development purposes&nbsp;and not for policing or social control by the Taliban or to serve other governments in the region, said Nader Nadery," a peace negotiator and head of the civil service commission in the former government.</p>

<p>Uncertain for the moment is the fate of one of the most sensitive databases, the one used to pay soldiers and police.</p>

<p>The Afghan Personnel and Pay System has data on more than 700,000 security forces members dating back 40 years, said a senior security official from the fallen government. Its more than 40 data fields include birth dates, phone numbers, fathers' and grandfathers' names, fingerprints and iris and face scans, said two Afghan contractors who worked on it, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.</p>

<p>Only authorized users can access that system, so if the Taliban can't find one, they can be expected to try to hack it, said the former official, who asked not to be identified for fear of the safety of relatives in Kabul. He expected Pakistan's ISI intelligence service, long the Taliban's patron, to render technical assistance. US&nbsp;Analysts expect Chinese, Russian and Iranian intelligence also to offer such services.</p>

<p>Originally conceived to fight payroll fraud, that system was supposed to interface eventually with a powerful database at the Defense and Interior ministries modelled on one the Pentagon created in 2004 to achieve identity "dominance"&nbsp;by collecting fingerprints and iris and face scans in combat areas.</p>

<p>But the homegrown Afghanistan Automated Biometric Identification Database grew from a tool to vet army and police recruits for loyalty to contain 8.5 million records, including on government foes and the civilian population. When Kabul fell it was being upgraded, along with a similar database in Iraq, under a $75 million contract signed in 2018.<br />
US&nbsp;Officials say it was secured before the Taliban could access it.</p>

<p>Before the US&nbsp;pullout, the entire database was erased with military-grade data-wiping software, said William Graves, chief engineer at the Pentagon's biometrics project management office.</p>

<p>Similarly, 20 years of data collected from telecommunications and internet intercepts since 2001 by Afghanistan's intelligence agency were wiped clean, said the former Afghan security official.</p>

<p>Among crucial databases that remained are the Afghanistan Financial Management Information System, which held extensive details on foreign contractors, and an Economy Ministry database that compiled all international development and aid agency funding sources, the former security official said.</p>

<p>Then there is the data with iris scans and fingerprints for about 9 million Afghans&nbsp;controlled by the National Statistics and Information Agency. A biometric scan has been required in recent years to obtain a passport or a driver's license and to take a civil service or university entrance exam.</p>

<p>Western aid organizations led by the World Bank, one of the funders, praised the data's utility for empowering women, especially in registering land ownership and obtaining bank loans. The agency was working to create electronic national IDs, known as e-Tazkira, in an unfinished project somewhat modelled on India's biometrically enabled Aadhaar national ID.</p>

<p>"That's the treasure chest,"&nbsp;said a Western election assistance official, speaking on condition of anonymity so as not to jeopardize future missions.</p>

<p>"It is unclear whether voter registration databases&nbsp;records on more than 8 million Afghan"&nbsp;are in Taliban hands, the official said. Full printouts were made during the 2019 presidential elections, though the biometric records used then for anti-fraud voter verification were retained by the German technology provider. After the 2018 parliamentary elections, 5,000 portable biometric handhelds used for verification went inexplicably missing.</p>

<p>Yet another database the Taliban inherit contains iris and face scans and fingerprints on 420,000 government employees&nbsp;another anti-fraud measure&nbsp;which Nadery oversaw as civil service commissioner. It was eventually to have been merged with the e-Tazkira database, he said.</p>

<p>On August&nbsp;3, a government website touted the digital accomplishments of President Ashraf Ghani, who would soon flee into exile, saying biometric information on all civil servants, from every corner of the country" would allow them to them to be linked "under one umbrella"&nbsp;with banks and cellphone carriers for electronic payment. U.N. Agencies have also collected biometrics on Afghans for food distribution and refugee tracking.</p>

<p>The central agglomeration of such personal data is exactly what worries the 37 digital civil liberties groups who signed an Aug. 25 letter calling for the urgent shutdown and erasure, where possible, of Afghanistan's digital identity tool,&nbsp;among other measures. The letter said authoritarian regimes have exploited such data to target vulnerable people&nbsp;and digitized, searchable databases amplify the risks. Disputes over including ethnicity and religion in the e-Tazkira database&nbsp;for fear it could put digital bullseyes on minorities, as China has done in repressing its ethnic Uyghurs&nbsp;delayed its creation for most of a decade.</p>

<p>John Woodward, a Boston University professor and former CIA officer who pioneered the Pentagon's biometric collection, is worried about intelligence agencies hostile to the United States getting access to the data troves.</p>

<p>"ISI (Pakistani intelligence) would be interested to know who worked for the Americans,"&nbsp;said Woodward, and China, Russia and Iran have their own agendas. Their agents certainly have the technical chops to break into password-protected databases.</p>


Over two decades, the United States and its allies spent hundreds of millions of dollars building databases for the Afghan people. The nobly stated goal: Promote law and order and government accountability and modernize a war-ravaged land.

Over two decades, the United States and its allies spent hundreds of millions of dollars building databases for the Afghan people. The nobly stated goal: Promote law and order and government accountability and modernize a war-ravaged land. But in the Taliban's lightning seizure of power, most of that digital apparatus, including biometrics for verifying identities, apparently fell into the Taliban hands. Built with few data-protection safeguards, it risks becoming the high-tech jackboots of a surveillance state. As the Taliban get their governing feet, there are worries it will be used for social control and to punish perceived foes. Putting such data to work constructively boosting education, empowering women, battling corruption requires democratic stability, and these systems were not architected for the prospect of defeat. "It is a terrible irony," said Frank Pasquale, Brooklyn Law School scholar of surveillance technologies. "It's a real object lesson in The road to hell is paved with good intentions.'" Since Kabul fell August 15, indications have emerged that government data may have been used in Taliban efforts to identify and intimidate Afghans who worked with the US Forces. People are getting ominous and threatening phone calls, texts and WhatsApp messages, said Neesha Suarez, constituent services director for Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, an Iraq War veteran whose office is trying to help stranded Afghans who worked with the U.S. Find a way out. Also read | Taliban open fire to disperse demonstrators who chant anti-Pakistan slogans in Kabul A 27-year-old US Contractor in Kabul told The Associated Press he and co-workers who developed a US-funded database used to manage army and police payrolls got phone calls summoning them to the Defense Ministry. He is in hiding, changing his location daily, he said, asking not to be identified for his safety. In victory, the Taliban's leaders say they are not interested in retribution. Restoring international aid and getting foreign-held assets unfrozen are a priority. There are few signs of the draconian restrictions "especially on women" they imposed when they ruled from 1996 to 2001. There are also no indications that Afghans who worked with Americans have been systematically persecuted. Ali Karimi, a University of Pennsylvania scholar, is among Afghans unready to trust the Taliban. He worries the databases will give rigid fundamentalist theocrats, known during their insurgency for ruthlessly killing enemy collaborators, "the same capability as an average US Government agency when it comes to surveillance and interception.? The Taliban are on notice that the world will be watching how they wield the data. Watch "All Afghans and their international partners have an obligation together to ensure sensitive government data only be used for development purposes and not for policing or social control by the Taliban or to serve other governments in the region, said Nader Nadery," a peace negotiator and head of the civil service commission in the former government. Uncertain for the moment is the fate of one of the most sensitive databases, the one used to pay soldiers and police. The Afghan Personnel and Pay System has data on more than 700,000 security forces members dating back 40 years, said a senior security official from the fallen government. Its more than 40 data fields include birth dates, phone numbers, fathers' and grandfathers' names, fingerprints and iris and face scans, said two Afghan contractors who worked on it, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. Only authorized users can access that system, so if the Taliban can't find one, they can be expected to try to hack it, said the former official, who asked not to be identified for fear of the safety of relatives in Kabul. He expected Pakistan's ISI intelligence service, long the Taliban's patron, to render technical assistance. US Analysts expect Chinese, Russian and Iranian intelligence also to offer such services. Originally conceived to fight payroll fraud, that system was supposed to interface eventually with a powerful database at the Defense and Interior ministries modelled on one the Pentagon created in 2004 to achieve identity "dominance" by collecting fingerprints and iris and face scans in combat areas. But the homegrown Afghanistan Automated Biometric Identification Database grew from a tool to vet army and police recruits for loyalty to contain 8.5 million records, including on government foes and the civilian population. When Kabul fell it was being upgraded, along with a similar database in Iraq, under a $75 million contract signed in 2018. US Officials say it was secured before the Taliban could access it. Before the US pullout, the entire database was erased with military-grade data-wiping software, said William Graves, chief engineer at the Pentagon's biometrics project management office. Similarly, 20 years of data collected from telecommunications and internet intercepts since 2001 by Afghanistan's intelligence agency were wiped clean, said the former Afghan security official. Among crucial databases that remained are the Afghanistan Financial Management Information System, which held extensive details on foreign contractors, and an Economy Ministry database that compiled all international development and aid agency funding sources, the former security official said. Then there is the data with iris scans and fingerprints for about 9 million Afghans controlled by the National Statistics and Information Agency. A biometric scan has been required in recent years to obtain a passport or a driver's license and to take a civil service or university entrance exam. Western aid organizations led by the World Bank, one of the funders, praised the data's utility for empowering women, especially in registering land ownership and obtaining bank loans. The agency was working to create electronic national IDs, known as e-Tazkira, in an unfinished project somewhat modelled on India's biometrically enabled Aadhaar national ID. "That's the treasure chest," said a Western election assistance official, speaking on condition of anonymity so as not to jeopardize future missions. "It is unclear whether voter registration databases records on more than 8 million Afghan" are in Taliban hands, the official said. Full printouts were made during the 2019 presidential elections, though the biometric records used then for anti-fraud voter verification were retained by the German technology provider. After the 2018 parliamentary elections, 5,000 portable biometric handhelds used for verification went inexplicably missing. Yet another database the Taliban inherit contains iris and face scans and fingerprints on 420,000 government employees another anti-fraud measure which Nadery oversaw as civil service commissioner. It was eventually to have been merged with the e-Tazkira database, he said. On August 3, a government website touted the digital accomplishments of President Ashraf Ghani, who would soon flee into exile, saying biometric information on all civil servants, from every corner of the country" would allow them to them to be linked "under one umbrella" with banks and cellphone carriers for electronic payment. U.N. Agencies have also collected biometrics on Afghans for food distribution and refugee tracking. The central agglomeration of such personal data is exactly what worries the 37 digital civil liberties groups who signed an Aug. 25 letter calling for the urgent shutdown and erasure, where possible, of Afghanistan's digital identity tool, among other measures. The letter said authoritarian regimes have exploited such data to target vulnerable people and digitized, searchable databases amplify the risks. Disputes over including ethnicity and religion in the e-Tazkira database for fear it could put digital bullseyes on minorities, as China has done in repressing its ethnic Uyghurs delayed its creation for most of a decade. John Woodward, a Boston University professor and former CIA officer who pioneered the Pentagon's biometric collection, is worried about intelligence agencies hostile to the United States getting access to the data troves. "ISI (Pakistani intelligence) would be interested to know who worked for the Americans," said Woodward, and China, Russia and Iran have their own agendas. Their agents certainly have the technical chops to break into password-protected databases.

US-built databases a potential tool of Taliban repression

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