X (Twitter) to start asking for users’ biometrics, job and education information

With its new data collection policy, X (Twitter) has ventured into new waters. The social media platform has revised its guidelines to include biometric information and the user’s job and education history. X joins a growing list of companies expanding their data collection pool. 

Although the Elon Musk-owned platform did not state the exact details it considers to be biometric, one can imagine that it will collect data from faces, eyes, and fingerprints. Its privacy policy page stated, “Based on your consent, we may collect and use your biometric information for safety, security, and identification purposes.” 

While the new biometric requirement is for identification, X will leverage the job and education history data from users to suggest jobs that said users qualify for. “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,” the site said. 

It is worth noting that the page cited the above personal details as a prerequisite for accessing many of its products and services. Meanwhile, a class-action suit was lodged against X Corp in July 2023. According to a document, the company is accused of collecting, storing, and using Illinois residents’ data without their permission. 

Ironically, Elon Musk teased Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta for the data collection policy of Threads, Zuckerberg’s newly-launched social media site. Interestingly, Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s former owner, started by posting a screenshot of the user data Threads intended to collect. He added a caption “All your threads belong to us.” Responding to Dorsey, Musk said “Yeah.” 

X amid growing data privacy concerns 

Admittedly, the proliferation of social media sites has given users more outlets to build personal brands, connect, and get information. But then, how these companies collect user data has been a long-standing issue. In May 2023, a European Union regulators ordered Meta to pay a €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) fine for breaking EU privacy laws. 

The regulators accused Meta of moving the data of European Facebook users to its servers in the United States. According to the European Data Protection Board, that action violated the region’s data privacy law called the General Data Protection Regulation. As X expands its data collection policy, many eyes will watch how the site will do this without breaking any rules. 

Since taking over, Musk has introduced various new features that are gradually turning the microblogging platform into an “Everything app.” Consider the platform’s beta product XHiring which looks to supplant LinkedIn as the leading job marketplace. Yesterday, it announced that it would allow political adverts on the site. Given Musk’s penchant for disruption, more features should be expected.