X will collect biometric data from its premium users

The social media site X announced that it will collect premium users’ biometric data for security and identification purposes.

The social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) has updated its privacy policy informing its premium users that the company will collect their biometric data to curb fraud and prevent impersonation.

Bloomberg first reported the news and confirmed that the change will only impact premium users. The news was also reported by TheHackerNews.

“Basically, certain information is necessary if you want to use many of our products and services.” reads the updated privacy policy. “Biometric Information. Based on your consent, we may collect and use your biometric information for safety, security, and identification purposes.”

The company told Bloomberg that users can be identified by providing a government ID or a picture for identity matching, or using biometric data.

However, the policy doesn’t include any details about the processes that the company will adopt to collect and retain these data.

X also announced that it may collect and use your Job Applications / Recommendations (such as your employment history, educational history, employment preferences, skills and abilities, job search activity and engagement, and so on). The social media platform will use the data to recommend potential jobs to the users, to share with potential employers when you apply for a job, to enable employers to find potential candidates, and to show users more relevant advertising.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Twitter)

Pierluigi Paganini

Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer. Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US. Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.