X asserts that, based on user consent, the platform will collect and use biometric information for safety, security, and identification purposes. While the platform does not specifically define what it means by biometric information, the term generally refers to biological characteristics such as facial recognition, fingerprints, or voice recognition, according to Fortune .
Under the new terms, the company will also store data about users’ personal backgrounds, including education and work experience. Elon Musk’s platform says this information is used to recommend jobs to users, help employers find potential candidates, and show more relevant ads.
This could pave the way for X Hiring, an upcoming recruiting tool that is currently in beta for verified organizations. In May, Elon Musk bought talent recruitment startup Laskie, which could be seen as a step toward the billionaire’s plan to turn X into a super app.
X indicates that users can access their own data, delete it, or change data settings at any time.
In July, a class-action lawsuit accused X of storing biometric data without users' consent. Plaintiffs said Elon Musk's platform collected and stored identifying information from every photo of a face uploaded to X.
The collection of biometric data has always been controversial due to concerns about public privacy. Because if a credit card number or social security number is compromised, it can still be changed, but a person's biometric information cannot.
Brad Smith, founder of digital agency Succeed Digital, believes that storing users' biometric data, occupation or education can have both positive and negative effects.
For example, fingerprint or facial recognition allows for more secure and convenient user authentication. Additionally, data on education and occupation can facilitate job searching. However, storing data comes with a lot of risks. It is X's responsibility to keep this data safe, but there are no guarantees.
Smith explains that companies or governments could misuse this information for surveillance purposes without users’ consent, and storing education and work histories could inadvertently lead to discrimination. Algorithms could use this data to make decisions, creating biases in hiring and networking.
Former Nvidia engineer and research scientist Jacopo Pantaleoni is much more pessimistic about the new policy changes. He warns that the plan to collect biometric data sets a dangerous precedent. In the short term, if the use of these markers is more widely adopted, it could create a system that makes it impossible for users to be anonymous online, eroding the very notion of online privacy, Pantaleoni said.
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