Subj : X (Twitter) may implement ID verification to fight impersonators, To : All From : TechnologyDaily Date : Fri Aug 18 2023 06:15:04 X (Twitter) may implement ID verification to fight impersonators, but will it work? Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2023 05:00:23 +0000 Description: X may soon give Premium users the chance to upload their ID, a selfie, and biometric data to officially verify their identity. FULL STORY ====================================================================== The implementation of ID verification to Twitter (now known as X) is something thats been long rumored ever since Elon Musk bought the platform. This new security feature may be coming soon as details on how the verification process will work have recently emerged. At least potentially. This information comes from independent app researcher Nima Owji who shared a screenshot of an in-app window revealing some of the materials Premium users will need to verify their identity. They include a government-issued ID plus a device with a working, uncovered camera presumably a smartphone. Verification is said to take about five minutes or so. The message also tells people to be prepared to take a sefie and photos of your ID. We assume sefie is a typo and the platform meant to say selfie instead. As you can probably guess, this is still a work in progress; although the fact this message appeared hints at an imminent launch. #X keeps working on the ID verification. You should upload a photo of your ID and take a live selfie. https://t.co/3bdGgzlnZh pic.twitter.com/F4ssglakHR August 16, 2023 See more Important context Looking at the fine print, X will store images of your ID as well as your biometric data on its servers for up to 30 days. During that time, the platform will share your information with identity verification company Au10tix for the purpose of confirming [your] identity. Additionally, X will use your data for safety and security reasons. Doing a quick Google search on Au10tix , it looks like the company has a pretty clean rap sheet. It hasnt had any public data breaches. On the surface, it appears Elon Musk made a good choice in picking Au10tix as a third-party partner. Although given all the controversies that have come as a result of Musks decisions, we will remain skeptical. A launch date is unknown. It is worth mentioning that Xs Community Notes once claimed ID verification is almost here, but Owjis may have missed some important context. The feature will actually be optional for Premium users. It wont be a required security check for everyone. However, during the writing of this article, those same Community Notes were altered to now say X is currently making no statements regarding "site-wide photo ID verification." The image below is the original statement. (Image credit: Future) Analysis: Just another sticker The reason why this is being implemented, according to the fine print, is to combat impersonation on X. If you recall, Musk got rid of Twitters old verification system to then implement one where all you had to do was pay $8 to get a verified checkmark . This proved to be a disaster as the website soon became filled with fake accounts. Infamously, someone impersonated pharmaceutical company Eli Lily and then proceeded to tweet the corporation was making insulin free of charge. Eli Lily reportedly pulled all of its ads from Twitter , costing the social media platform millions. The million-dollar question now is will this effectively stop X impersonators? We doubt it. Its not like anything is really changing. Its still $8 for verification, optional or not. Even if it was mandatory, would people be okay with giving their biometric data to Musk or some security company they never heard of? The sycophants probably, but thats not most people. It may still be just another worthless sticker to add to the collection . ====================================================================== Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/social-media/x-twitter-may-implement-id-ve rification-to-fight-impersonators-but-will-it-work --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 (Linux/64) * Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100) .