Additionally, new penalties are being implemented by the firm for harvesting tweets.
In order to train artificial intelligence models, X is in the process of revising its privacy policy to include new terminology that will enable it to send data belonging to users to third-party “collaborators.” It would appear that the new policy, which will go into effect on November 15, 2024, will make it possible for third-party organizations to enter into arrangements similar to those found on Reddit, in which they will pay to license data from X.
In the revised policy that was distributed by X, there is a new section that is referred to as “third-party collaborators.”
Our ability to share or disclose your information with third parties is contingent upon the settings you have selected, as well as on whether or not you choose to share your data. In the event that you do not opt out, the recipients of the information may, in certain circumstances, use it for their own independent objectives in addition to those specified in X’s Privacy Policy. For instance, they may use it to train their artificial intelligence models, whether they be generative or otherwise.
There is a provision in the policy that allows users to opt out, but it is not entirely obvious how users would really go about doing so. According to TechCrunch, the policy directs users to the settings menu; however, it does not appear that there is a control button that allows users to opt out of having their data shared. The policy, on the other hand, is not scheduled to take effect until the following month, so there is still a possibility that this will be altered. A request for comment from X was not met with a response.
It is possible that the social media giant, which has experienced a decline in interest from major advertisers, could open up a huge new revenue stream if it were to begin leasing its data to other businesses.
Additionally, X is revising its terms of service to include more stringent sanctions for organizations that are detected “scraping” massive volumes of tweets. This is in addition to the privacy policy that was previously implemented. The corporation states that anyone who views or accesses more than one million posts in a single day will be subject to a penalty of fifteen thousand dollars in a part of the website that is named “liquidated damages.”
A priority for us is the protection of the data of our users as well as the resources of our system. You further agree that, to the extent that applicable law permits, if you violate the Terms, or if you induce or facilitate others to do so, in addition to all other legal remedies available to us, you will be jointly and severally liable to us for liquidated damages as follows: $15,000 USD per 1,000,000 posts for requesting, viewing, or accessing more than 1,000,000 posts (including reply posts, video posts, image posts, and any other posts) in any 24-hour period. This is in addition to any other legal remedies that may be available to us.
X’s owner, Elon Musk, has before expressed his disapproval of the term “scraping.” Last year, the firm made a decision to temporarily prevent users from accessing tweets while they were logged out. Musk explained this decision as an attempt to protect the company from scrapers. He also moved X’s application programming interface (API) behind a paywall, which has significantly hampered the capacity of academics to investigate what is occurring on the platform. He has also filed lawsuits against organizations that have attempted to investigate hate speech and other concerns on the platform, and he has used charges of “scraping” as a justification for these cases.