X Users Are Not Safe! User Data Collected for Grok’s Education

The social media platform X, owned by Elon Musk, came to the fore with the claim that it trained the artificial intelligence assistant Grok by secretly collecting user data.

The company, which allegedly violated data protection regulations, did not inform both the European Union and X users in any way. So is it possible to stop data collection? Here are the details!

X’s User Data Was Collected to Train Artificial Intelligence

X users became aware of the data collection thanks to a checkbox they noticed in the platform’s settings. This automatically checked box stated that users’ posts and interactions with Grok would be used to train the artificial intelligence model. Elon Musk and the platform did not inform the users and did not obtain their consent when performing this operation.

The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires companies to provide clear information before collecting user data and allow users to make choices about it. The allegation that platform X violated this regulation sparked a huge debate.

Elon Musk, on the other hand, argues that he has a legal basis for training artificial intelligence with publicly available information. However, experts think that this defense may not be sufficient against the comprehensive regulations of the GDPR.

How to Disable X Data Collection?

Fortunately, it is possible to opt out of data collection. However, you need to make settings via the web version and these are not yet available in the mobile application. The steps you need to follow are as follows:

• Open X in the web version.
• Select “More” in the left bar.
• Go to “settings and privacy”.
• Click “Privacy and security.”
• Select “Grok” towards the bottom of the list. Uncheck the box that allows data collection.

So, in your opinion, how will Elon Musk and the X platform come out of this situation? What should be the responsibilities of companies regarding data privacy? You can share your opinions in the comments.