• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, September 1, 2023

Under updates posted to its privacy policy on Thursday, the social platform formerly known as Twitter will begin collecting biometric data, with consent, and employment information from users as of Sept. 29. 

“Based on your consent, we may collect and use your biometric information for safety, security, and identification purposes,” the policy now states.

No further specifics, including what kind of biometric data will be collected, how it will be mined and used by X, or how consent will be established or assumed, are spelled out in the policy.

However, the company toldBloomberg News that the collection will apply only to "premium" subscribers, and that X will offer those users the option of submitting a government-issued ID combined with a "selfie" photo. Biometric data may be extracted from both the ID and the selfie for matching purposes. 

The ID will "help us tie, for those that choose, an account to a real person," and "help X fight impersonation attempts and make the platform more secure," X said in an email to the outlet.

Facebook offered an opt-in facial recognition feature for a time, but dropped it at the end of 2021 in response to negative publicity and feedback.

On the employment front, the relevant point in the privacy policy now states that X “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 update may signal that X, which is pushing to expand its revenue base, is looking to compete with LinkedIn, notes CNBC, which first reported on the policy updates. The company acquired tech talent recruiting service Laskie in May, according to Bloomberg. 

X is also planning to launch video and audio calls that work on iOS, Android, Macs and PCs and require no phone numbers, so the platform functions as a "global address book," according to a post by owner Elon Musk on Thursday (above).

Further, the parent company has been acquiring money transmitter licenses in various U.S. states, most likely to launch payment capabilities on the platform, say tech watchers. 

This week, X added details about payments and earnings in “x coins” and “diamonds” to its algorithm. This “suggests the platform is getting ready to integrate digital payments for users, though owner Elon Musk has denied that it means the platform is considering launching its own token,” reports The Street, which notes that integration of existing cryptocurrencies to facilitate direct payments between users may be an objective. 

Biometrics are now commonly used by banks to verify customers’ identities for financial transactions, as well as for unlocking phones and security systems.