The social network X, formerly known as Twitter, began on Friday (15) a user authentication program. Subscribers to X Premium (formerly Twitter Blue) will be able to prove their identity using documents. With this, they gain access to benefits, such as priority support.
A pop-up suggesting identity verification appeared for users who subscribe to X Premium. It asks the user to prepare a government-issued ID and check if the camera is uncovered. The next steps are to take a selfie and photos of the document.
The process is done in partnership with the Israeli company Au10tix. According to the help page, verification with documents gives priority to the support of X. In addition, when other users click on the “blue check”, a warning appears that that account has been authenticated.
In the future, according to X, the user with documentation will have more flexibility to make frequent changes of name, profile picture and username.
Elon Musk, the current owner of X, was already talking about his plans to authenticate all Twitter users in April 2022, shortly after making the offer to buy the social network.
At the time, the billionaire was at war with bots and spam accounts — demanding documents would make it harder to create profiles en masse, for example.
X’s privacy policy now includes biometric data
X says the process is available in several countries and will be expanded soon. It is not currently offered in the European Union, the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom.
The page does not comment on this matter, but the three areas mentioned are known to have stricter data protection laws, which should weigh in the decision. Meta’s competitor Threads is not available in Europe for legal reasons either, for example.
Recently, X updated its privacy policy to include the collection of biometric data, already setting the stage for the verification process launched on Friday.
The network will also collect educational and professional information. In the future, it should include resources to offer vacancies and recruit candidates.