X is updating its privacy policy to allow the sharing of users’ data with third-party collaborators for the purpose of training AI models, a change that will take effect on November 15, 2024. This update includes a new section specifically addressing these third-party collaborators. However, it’s unclear how users can opt out of this data sharing, as the policy currently doesn’t provide a clear mechanism for doing so. This change could potentially create a new revenue stream for X, considering their declining interest from major advertisers. In addition to the privacy policy update, X is also implementing stricter penalties for entities caught scraping large numbers of tweets, with a penalty of $15,000 for viewing or accessing more than a million posts a day. Elon Musk, the owner of X, has been vocal about preventing scraping in the past and has taken steps to hinder researchers’ ability to study the platform in response to scraping incidents.
