Starting next month, X’s updated privacy policy will entitle it to collect some users’ biometric data and other personal information.

Under the revised policy, which takes effect September 29, X (formerly known as Twitter) “may collect and use your biometric information for safety, security and identification purposes” so long as the user provides consent.

The biometric data collection is for X Premium users only, the company told CBS MoneyWatch when reached for further information.

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    Under the revised policy, which takes effect September 29, X (formerly known as Twitter) “may collect and use your biometric information for safety, security and identification purposes” so long as the user provides consent.

    The microblogging platform does not define “biometric” in its policy, but the term generally refers to  automated technologies — including facial recognition software, fingerprint taking, and palm and iris scanning — used for authenticating and verifying unique human body characteristics.

    “The announcement is at least an acknowledgement that X will be doing what other social networks have already been doing in a more covert fashion,” said Stephen Wicker, a professor at Cornell University and expert on data privacy,

    X’s move to collect biometric data comes after the website earlier this year introduced a subscription verification model that requires users to submit their government-approved identification to receive a blue checkmark on their accounts.

    A lawsuit, filed in July alleges that X has not “adequately informed individuals who have interacted (knowingly or not) with [its platform], that it collects and/or stores their biometric identifiers in every photograph containing a face that is uploaded to [the website].”

    In 2021, Facebook agreed to a $650 million settlement of a privacy lawsuit for allegedly using photo face-tagging and other biometric data without users’ consent.


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