Social networking site X (formerly Twitter) uses user data to train AI without permission. How do you prevent this data theft?
X is using your data: here’s how to turn it off!
X has announced that it uses user data to train its own AI services. The company does not explicitly ask for consent, but has simply added an option in the settings that is activated by default. In terms of data protection, this is of course very questionable. The option is also quite well hidden and can only be disabled via the browser.
In June, Meta also tried to collect user data for AI services via Facebook and Instagram. However, users had the opportunity to object in advance. With X, users do not have this option.
All data collected for AI
X states that it wants to collect messages, user interactions, inputs and results to train the chatbot Grok. User data is passed on to the company for these purposes xAIwhich, like X, is also owned by Elon Musk.
The data is therefore not processed by X itself, but by another company, which implies that X does not take the data of all users very seriously. Although X tried to protect itself in 2023 with an adjusted privacy policy, the General Data Protection Regulation (AVG) still explicitly consent to such changes. X also risks a warning and possibly high fines. Meta has also been sued for possible data protection violations.
How to disable data theft
As we mentioned, you can currently only disable the option to use your data in the browser version of X. So log in to the X website and go to ‘Privacy and security’ in Settings. Then, under ‘Data sharing and personalization’, click on ‘Grok’. There, uncheck the box next to ‘Allow your posts and interactions, input and results from Grok to be used for training and tuning’.
If you can’t find the setting, you can also this link use when you are logged in.
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