X Will Collect Biometric Data to Fight Its Impersonation Problem

Twitter, now known as X, will collect biometric data from its premium users in an effort to combat its fraud and impersonation problem.

The company didn’t announce this news publicly. Rather, X quietly updated its privacy policy to reflect the change, noting: “Based on your consent, we may collect and use your biometric information for safety, security, and identification purposes.”

X hopes the change will help curb rampant impersonation issues the site has been dealing with since they changed the way verification worked: For most of the company’s history, an account could verify itself with the site through a stringent set of standard, so that users could easily identity that account was legitimate. Once the site switched tactics, and allowed anyone to buy a verification with a Twitter Blue subscription, the site saw a dramatic uptick in fake accounts impersonating real ones.

X plans to launch the change starting September 29, 2023, and will give the choice between uploading a government ID and an accompanying photograph to verify identity, or using biometric data. One would assume that means a fingerprint or face scan, but the company hasn’t confirmed.

In addition, the company may collect employment and education history, with the goal of recommending job listings, sharing your information with employers, and advertisements. That’s as X is rolling out options that let verified organizations list their job openings on their profiles. It appears X is encroaching on LinkedIn’s turf.

For any paying X user who values their privacy, you may want to keep a close eye on your privacy settings. While some of these options should be opt-in, it’s best to be sure you aren’t giving up any new information you weren’t aware of.