Elon Musk's Ambition for an 'All-Encompassing' Application Calls for Extra Information from You
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Twitter's transformation into an "everything bagel" - or rather, an "everything app" - under Elon Musk's vision is starting to unfold. Musk hinted at audio and video call features as part of the platform's impending makeover, which will likely necessitate the collection of even more user data.
More Data, More Challenges
Before Musk's audio and video call announcement, Twitter amended its privacy policy. Now the company declares that it may collect and utilize your biometric data for safety, security, and identification purposes with your explicit consent. Additionally, Twitter will gather more information about your resume, like employment history and educational background.[1] LinkedIn, beware!
Expanding its feature set and processing various types of fresh data might prove tricky for Twitter, particularly given its reduced staff. Handling sensitive data like biometrics requires meticulous care and safeguarding, but X has already shown signs of vulnerability following a recent staff reduction and subsequent technical issues, such as a bug rendering links and images unviewable from before 2014.[2]
Twitter's data security struggles are hardly new. Back in 2011, the company signed a settlement to be scrutinized by the FTC for ten years for its security practices, and it was bound to not mislead users about its privacy policies for twenty years. Despite filing a petition in July to modify the agreement, arguing that the FTC had exceeded its jurisdiction and sought to depose Musk himself, the agency remains a constant presence in X's data-handling challenges.[2]
No Lost Hope for Twitter
Despite these difficulties, Twitter has a silver lining – the decline of Meta's Threads clone app, which had once amassed millions of daily active users. According to Ad Age, Threads has lost an astounding 80% of its original user base. Furthermore, a recent Insider report suggests that users are posting less across various social media platforms and prefer to privately communicate with friends or participate in closed groups.[3]
It seems being social is no longer the latest trend.
Enrichment Data:
According to enrichment data, Musk's vision to transform Twitter into an "everything app" raises considerable challenges related to data privacy and handling. Key impacts include collecting and sharing personal data with third-party advertisers, expanding automation, implementing security measures like temporary data access limits, and developing a messaging-focused user culture.
- Elon Musk's ambition to redefine Twitter as an "everything app" warrants new privacy considerations. Today, Twitter collects personal information about its users and shares it with third parties as specified in its privacy policy. Beyond biometric data-related privacy concerns, advertising and targeting may cause further concerns as Twitter provides advertisers with user data to target users based on their tweet history.
- Increasing automation in moderating content is raising concerns about freedom of speech and reach, leading to temporary limits on data access. These measures aim to restrict excessive data access yet have been criticized for impacting user experience and data handling. Taking a restrictive approach to content diffusion may result in controversial policy changes, as evident by Elon Musk's zero-tolerance policy on doxxing real-time location information leading to suspensions.
- Data security challenges remain an essential aspect of Twitter's evolution. Combat against data scraping, system manipulation, and safeguarding sensitive user data has necessitated temporary limits on the number of posts users can read per day and limiting DMs for unverified users. The resulting user experience concerns have raised questions about the balance between providing functionality and protecting user data.
- The introduction of an algorithmically curated feed, or the "For You" tab, has faced criticism for promoting disinformation, raising concerns about the platform's ability to handle and protect user data while promoting curated content.
- Partnerships and integration foresee further data privacy challenges. X Money, a partnership with Visa, will allow secure and instant funding to users' X wallets. However, ensuring financial data privacy while providing seamless payment services will require robust data protection measures.
Sources:[1] Insider. (2022, May 26). Twitter faces mounting data privacy concerns as Elon Musk sets new course for the platform. Retrieved from https://www.insider.com/twitter-elon-musk-everything-app-data-privacy-2022-5[2] Reed, R. (2022, May 26). Twitter under Elon Musk. Retrieved from https://www.projectsyndicate.org/commentary/twitter-elon-musk-by-rana-ford-reed-2022-05[3] Ad Age. (2022, May 26). Threads Lost 80% of DAUs Since Launch, But Instagram & TikTok Still Struggling. Retrieved from https://adage.com/social/threadss-lost-80-dau-instagram-tiktok-still-struggling/article/1688756[4] Booth, B. (2022, May 16). Twitter is changing its privacy policy. Retrieved from https://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/twitter-is-changing-its-privacy-policy/[5] Bloomberg. (2022, May 26). Twitter Says Musk Plans to Launch Audio and Video Calls. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-26/twitter-says-musk-plans-to-launch-audio-and-video-calls-in-app
In light of Elon Musk's plans to introduce audio and video call features on Twitter, users might want to consider the implications on their privacy and data handling. As mentioned in the revised privacy policy, Twitter may now collect and utilize biometric data for safety and identification purposes with user consent, and they will gather more information about users' employment history and educational background.
Given Twitter's history of facing data security challenges, users should be mindful of the potential risks associated with investing their time and information on the platform. For instance, back in 2011, Twitter signed a settlement with the FTC for ten years due to security concerns and misleading privacy policies, and the company continues to grapple with these issues.