Social media network X may soon include a disclaimer on your profile that tells others you’ve used a VPN.
New tools to help fight trolls were announced by X’s Head of Product, Mikita Bier, back in October. Bier said, “We’re experimenting with displaying new information on profiles, including which country an account is based, among other details.”
How location data would appear on an X profile has previously been unclear. Now, a newly spotted selection of code within the app suggests it may introduce a disclaimer which alludes to the use of a VPN.
As spotted by an analyst at MacRumors, X’s code now says, “One of our partners has indicated that you may be connecting via a proxy—such as a VPN—which may change the country or region that is displayed on your profile.”
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The code also includes what appears to be a public disclaimer that says, “Country or region may not be accurate.” If that does display publicly, it will suggest to other users you’ve used a VPN when setting up the About this account part of your profile.
X has yet to clarify how the feature will work. It may be that this won’t appear publicly, but Bier’s previous comments suggest it will. He said, “There will be privacy toggles. However, if a user configures them, that will likely be highlighted on their profile.”
Bier’s announcement of the feature showed other tools, including an indicator of how many times you’ve changed your username and when you first joined X.
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Speaking to TechRadar, NordVPN’s CTO, Marijus Briedis, criticized the VPN disclaimer. He said, “Putting a visible flag on them can make it easier to single out journalists, activists, or users in high-risk countries as ‘suspicious’ just because they care about privacy.”
Proton VPN’s General Manager, David Peterson, also told TechRadar that these new rules may force the wrong restrictions onto users. Peterson said, “If a system relies on app-store region as a proxy for jurisdiction, users could end up being subject to the wrong rules, or be locked out of age-restricted content even when they’re compliant.”
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