Business is business. Nothing is personal, until money is involved.
X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, is fighting an uphill battle. Not entirely against rivals and enemies, but against its own users, who wish X is not X, and things were like the old Twitter days.
But since the show must go on, advancing is the only way forward.
But this time, X is doing something rather discreetly.
This is because the company didn't reveal to the public that is has updated its privacy policy that grants it permission to collect various forms of biometric data, including fingerprints, retinal scans, voice and face recognition, and even keystroke patterns.
Users who use fingerprint verification to log in, post selfies or videos, or participate in X 'spaces' may have their biometric data collected by the platform.
X stated purpose of collecting this data is for safety, security, and identification.
"Based on your consent, we may collect and use your biometric information for safety, security and identification purposes," the revised privacy policy reads.
X’s policy also notes that the company “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 old version of X’s privacy policy did not mention anything about collecting users' biometric data or job history.
This update comes after a turbulent year for the platform, during which Elon Musk, the billionaire who acquired Twitter before turning it into X, requested users to pay for premium services and verification to address declining advertising revenue.
An X spokesperson said the reference to biometric information is related to a feature intended for "premium users."
"X will give the option to provide their Government ID, combined with a selfie, to add a verification layer," the X spokesperson said in a statement.
"Biometric data may be extracted from both the Gov ID and the selfie image for matching purposes. This will additionally help us tie, for those that choose, an account to a real person by processing their Government issued ID. This will also help X fight impersonation attempts and make the platform more secure."
Musk has expressed his desire to remove inauthentic accounts and bots, and make his platform less toxic, and collecting more information about its users should be make sense.
But still, X's privacy policy update that allows for the collection of biometric data, has raised concerns.
It's worth noting that this is far from the first time a tech company is met with controversy.
In the past, various Big Tech companies, most notably Meta and Google, have faced controversies over collecting way too much user information and data.
In a separate announcement on Thursday, Musk said X also plans to begin offering video and audio calls for its users with “no phone number needed.”
He said the feature "works on iOS, Android, Mac & PC."
"X is the effective global address book", he claimed.