X Will Now Allow Third Parties to Train Their AI Models Using X Users’ Data

• Social media platform X recently updated its Privacy Policy to allow third parties to train their models on X users' data.
• Users obviously have the option to opt-out. But the process of opting out is a little vague right now.
• The changes are scheduled to come into effect from November 15, 2024.

On Wednesday, X made a surprising new change to its Privacy Policy. It will now allow third parties to train their AI models using data from X.

You can find this change in Section 3 of its Privacy Policy, under the title Sharing Information." A new paragraph has been added that details the process.

If you do not opt-out, in some instances the recipients of the information may use it for their own independent purposes in addition to those stated in X's Privacy Policy, including, for example, to train their artificial intelligence models, whether generative or otherwise' - X

However, the process of opting out is a little vague. The paragraph says you can opt out of data sharing by going to the Settings" tab on your account. But it doesn't say where exactly on the settings tab you will get the option.

• There is an option under the Privacy and Safety" section that lets you opt out of data sharing. But that refers to Grok AI - Musk's own AI chatbot that he is training on the data of X users.
• There's also a mention of other business partners" but that refers to companies that X works with to improve its product. We are not sure if third-party AI developers will be considered under it.

Either way, the change is expected to come into effect from November 15, 2024, so maybe we will have a little more clarity by then.

Information Storage

In addition to this, another update has been made.

There used to be a section that said the company only keeps your profile information and content for as long as you have an account. Other personally identifiable information that was collected during usage was stored for a maximum of 18 months.

This section has now been removed and replaced with another section that says that different types of information will be stored for different amounts of time. It all comes down to how long the company needs to keep your data for legal or security reasons.

Giving an example, it added that usage information such as the content you post and the interactions you have with other's posts will only be kept for the duration of your account or until the post is removed.

X also reminded users that just because content is deleted from X doesn't mean it doesn't exist anywhere. Sometimes, search engines can retain a copy. And sometimes, other users might repost your content. In that case, your content may still be used in AI training, even if you have deleted it.

Liquidated Damages

In the end, it added another section in its Terms Of Services called Liquidated Damages".

Any organization that tries to scrape more than 1,000,000 posts in a 24-hour period will be liable to pay damages ranging up to $15,000 USD per 1,000,000 posts.

Allowing access to third-party developers is an important move for X to monetize its platform and keep the revenue steadily flowing in. With advertisers gradually withdrawing, the platform was facing financial hardship.

However, it's hard to say how long it can keep up this new revenue stream because regulators might not like this update. When it came out that Musk used user data to train GrokAI, it led to an investigation by the EU's lead privacy regulator. So it's hard to believe that this change will pass through without any resistance.

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