Starting next month, X’s updated privacy policy will entitle it to collect some users’ biometric data and other personal information.
Under the revised policy, which takes effect Sept. 29, X (formerly known as Twitter) “may collect and use your biometric information for safety, security and identification purposes” so long as the user provides consent. The biometric data collection is only for X Premium users, an spokesperson told CBS MoneyWatch.
The microblogging platform also does not define “biometric” in its policy, but that generally refers to identifying physical data gathered through technologies including facial recognition software, fingerprint taking, and palm and iris scanning.
The new policy “will give the option to provide their Government ID, combined with a selfie, to…tie, for those that choose, an account to a real person,” the X spokesperson added.
The spokesperson did not say whether the policy would also eventually apply to non-paying X users or include other forms of data beyond that which can be gathered from government IDs. X’s privacy policy also does not specify which users can opt into, or out of, biometric data gathering.
The company also plans to gather information on users’ jobs and education histories, the updated policy shows.
“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,” the policy states.
X’s move to collect biometric data comes after the website earlier this year introduced a subscription verification model that requires users to submit their government-approved identification to receive a blue checkmark on their accounts. The move is meant to curb bots and other fake accounts on the website, according to X.
Some users have previously challenged X’s data collection methods. A lawsuit, filed in July alleges that X has not “adequately informed individuals who have interacted (knowingly or not) with [its platform], that it collects and/or stores their biometric identifiers in every photograph containing a face that is uploaded to [the website].”
