Elon Musk's X seeks permission to collect your biometric data, employment history

Elon Musk-run X (formerly Twitter) is now seeking permission from users to start collecting their biometric data and employment history. The social media network has updated its privacy policy to include carveouts for “biometric information” and “employment history”. X said it may collect and use 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”.

“Based on your consent, we may collect and use your biometric information for safety, security, and identification purposes,” reads the updated privacy policy. “When you use our services, we collect information about how you use our products and services. We use that information to provide you with products and services, to help keep X more secure and respectful for everyone, and more relevant to you,” said the company. The new X policy will go into effect on September 29.

In July, X Corp. was named in a proposed class-action lawsuit in the US over its data collection practices. The lawsuit alleged that X “has not adequately informed individuals” that it “collects and/or stores their biometric identifiers in every photograph containing a face” that’s uploaded to the platform.

Meanwhile, X has announced it will soon introduce the ability to call your contacts on the platform without requiring the phone number. The announcement was made by Elon Musk, who in a post on the platform, said that this new feature will work on almost all platforms, which includes iOS, Android, Mac and Windows PCs. The billionaire said that X will serve as a global address book so users will not need phone numbers to make calls. While Musk did say that X’s video and audio calling feature is coming to all platforms, he did not reveal how exactly this feature will work.

— Written with inputs from IANS