X, previously known as Twitter, is set to enhance its privacy policy by incorporating the collection of biometric data from users, including facial photographs. Subscribers to X Premium will have the option to supply a selfie and photo ID for verification purposes. Additionally, X may gather employment and educational history to recommend potential job opportunities and share this information with potential employers. There are speculations that X aims to offer recruitment services.
In May, X Corp acquired a tech recruiting service named Laskie. This marked the first acquisition since Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter for $44 billion the previous year.
The updated privacy policy will take effect on September 29th, allowing X to use personal information for job recommendations, sharing with employers, and more. Liberty Vittert, a data science professor, sees this move as an effort to provide more personalized user experiences to compete with platforms like LinkedIn. However, Dr. Stephanie Hare, a tech ethics researcher, emphasizes that the data collection is with user consent and not mandatory, which eases concerns about civil liberties.
X intends to use biometric data collection primarily for X Premium users to enhance security and combat impersonation attempts. Elon Musk also expressed plans for video and audio calls on X, emphasizing that phone numbers won’t be necessary, although no specific launch date was provided.
Notably, TikTok already collects biometric data in the United States, despite previous claims to the contrary during a Senate hearing by its former COO, Vanessa Pappas. Elon Musk’s vision for X is to transform it into an “everything app,” which may involve further updates to its privacy policy to accommodate new features and services.
