X (Twitter) Now Collects More Data Than Ever, Including Biometrics
X's new privacy policy allows the platform to collect users' biometric data, employment and education history, access encrypted messages, and use harvested data to train X's machine learning models.
- The new “X Privacy Policy” replaced what was previously known as the “Current Privacy Policy.” The new policy came into effect last Friday on September 29, 2023.
"With over 500 million users, such a system-wide collection of extremely sensitive data poses huge security and privacy risks. Even more concerning is the provision that X will collect information about the location of users and their private messages, which may constitute mass surveillance," said Michael Kleinman, Director of Silicon Valley Initiative at Amnesty International.
- “Users’ information will also be used to train X’s machine learning and artificial intelligence models. Yet users are not explicitly given the option of agreeing that their data should be used for this purpose. X claims to be a platform that promotes freedom of expression but its carte blanche approach to profit-making poses a serious risk to individual rights," he added.
- "As well as the collection of biometric data, the new policy introduces the collection of information about users’ employment history and most notably, makes provision for the sharing of encrypted messages for security reasons."
- "According to X’s policy, it collects “metadata related to Encrypted Messages and when you use Direct Messages, including contents of the messages, the recipients, and date and time of the messages.”
