X (Twitter) requires your Date of Birth. What will this mean for X accounts of the deceased?
Over the last few weeks X has been prompting users to add their date of birth in order to continue to ‘access X’.
Our Concerns
We are concerned about what this could mean for the accounts of X users who have died and whether or not their accounts will be purged (deleted) due to this request being provided.
Today’s notification on X states ‘If you do not add a birth date by 8 July 2023, you will be unable to access X’. It is important to note that the notification provided by X does not explicitly state that accounts will be removed, deleted or become unavailable. The Digital Legacy Association is concerned about the lack of information provided and the emotional impact any planned changes (based on this request) might have on the accounts of previous X user’s friends and family members.
Why is X asking for my Date of Birth?
The following information has been extracted from an official X news page about ‘age screening’. It only references ‘new X followers’.
There is no information however about ‘existing X users’ in this post. This latest date of birth requirement from X is not for ‘new users’ but instead existing accounts. This update will therefore include accounts of those who have died. We cannot locate further information about this update and what it means for X users who have died and are therefore unable to add their date of birth.
How does age screening work on X? (Text extracted from X)
‘X has developed a solution for brands that requires new X followers to enter their birth date before being permitted to follow their account. If you have already entered your date of birth on your profile page, it will be detected and you will be able to immediately follow the account. If you have not already entered your date of birth on your profile page, we will ask you to enter your date of birth on your profile page settings.
The feature was designed to help brands determine whether a follower meets a minimum age requirement, while at the same time providing an easy and secure way for you to follow accounts that you would otherwise be blocked from following. X advertisers who use the solution will not have access to your birthdate or age unless your birthday visibility settings permit them to view this information on your profile, but will know when you’ve entered an age that’s above their indicated threshold. This feature is free, and available to a select number of our advertising partners.’ Source.
What will happen to X users accounts of the deceased following this update?
In short, we do not know. We have searched online for clarification and cannot find a direct way to ask X about this. Our concerns are over the emotional impact future changes might have and the emotional impact nit knowing, might currently be having. The request for user’s date of birth seems to be for marketing purposes however the comment ‘you will be unable to access X’ is of concern.
If someone at X could provide clarification on the following it would be greatly appreciated:
- Will accounts that do not have a date of birth added be deleted (when the user is unable to login due to death or serious illness)?
- Will accounts that do not have a date of birth added (when the user is unable to login due to death or serious illness) still remain visible to others?
Our recommendations (based on the current information available)
- If X has not discussed and addressed what will happen to deceased users accounts in relation to this update, this area is prioritised. No account actions, suspensions or deletions take place on X until safeguards are put in place.
- X publishes information about what will happen to accounts of the deceased and those who are unable to login to their accounts and update their date of birth (as soon as possible). This might help remove worries and concerns friends and family members of former X users might now be experiencing.
