X, formerly known as Twitter, has expanded its online privacy policy to include biometric and employment information. The troubled social media company, now owned by Elon Musk, announced the development in an update concerning the collection of personal information of users.
X says it may collect biometric information based on user consent for “safety, security, and identification purposes”. It may also collect personal information such as employment and educational history, job preferences, skills and abilities, job search activity, etc. The information will be used to recommend potential jobs for users and to “enable employers to find potential candidates. Moreover, X will process this data to display “more relevant advertising” to users.
The updates can be viewed in two separate paragraphs added under the “Information you provide us” section in X’s privacy policy. A statement given to CNN suggests that X Premium users will have the option to provide a government ID and self portrait for verification purposes. “This will additionally help us tie, for those that choose, an account to a real person by processing their Government issued ID,” X said, adding that the process will help X combat impersonation attempts and make the platform more secure.
X has made a number of sweeping policy changes under Musk’s management. Recently, the platform announced reinstating political advertisement, which was banned by former CEO Jack Dorsey in 2019 following worries related to mounting misinformation, especially during electoral processes. Paying for reach had significant ramifications that democratic infrastructure may not be prepared to handle, Dorsey had said.
The reversal of ban on political ads arrived shortly after former US president Donald Trump returned to X. He had been permanently suspended from the platform “due to the risk of further incitement of violence” during the January 6 Capitol riots. Trump, along with a slew of other public figures deplatformed for their controversial behaviour, had been allowed back by Musk just weeks after the billionaire acquired X, then known as Twitter, however.
Earlier, X announced scrapping the blocking feature, which is used worldwide to prevent harassment, abuse and bullying. Musk has also placed TweetDeck — an online dashboard used to monitor and organise content across X — behind the paywall. The dashboard is widely used by media organisations and various other businesses. The move was part of Musk’s rigorous attempts at turning the platform profitable, as it has long faced issues with profitability compared to its counterparts such as Facebook and Instagram.
X has been struggling with retaining advertisers due primarily to Musk’s controversial policy and product changes, including reinstating banned accounts and allowing hate speech to spread unchecked under the billionaire’s “free speech” ideals. Under Musk’s management, Twitter has laid off several crucial safety and well-being teams, ethical AI engineers, and human rights professionals. Since Musk’s $44 billion takeover, X has also suffered major global breakdowns, which industry experts have ascribed to the departure of key teams.
