X May Begin Displaying This Personal Information on Your Profile Page.
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When Elon Musk acquired Twitter in 2022, he repeatedly promised to reduce the number of bots on the site and proposed plans to “authenticate all real people.” Now, in 2025, the true number of bots on social network X is unknown, though a cybersecurity company contacted by Mashable claimed that 76% of X’s traffic during last year’s Super Bowl was fake. Add to this the fact that those plans to authenticate real users have now been replaced by a paid verification scheme , and it becomes clear the site is still struggling to deal with fake users. The latest plan? Put most of your personal information in the “About this account” section of your profile page.
In an X post this week, Nikita Bir, X’s head of product, announced that starting next week, the social network will begin “experimenting with displaying new information in profiles.” Specifically, this will include information about a user’s country of residence, their registration date, the number of username changes, and the method of accessing the site (e.g., via a computer or app).
According to Beer, the idea is that verifying this information will allow users to “confirm the authenticity of [an account].” For example, if you’re receiving spam from a group of suspicious followers, and they all appear to be new accounts from the same region, you might conclude that you’re being targeted by some kind of coordinated spam attack.
However, the new section also raises privacy concerns. For example, one user asked Beer whether X accounts would be able to opt out of displaying their country of residence publicly. Another user, apparently supportive of the new system, asked whether the page could contain information about the device from which a user posts, to which Beer responded that the team is “experimenting with different device data so users can judge the authenticity of posts.” Horrible.
While this isn’t as invasive as simply publishing your address, it still lifts the veil of secrecy a bit more than I’d like and gives others the opportunity to judge you based on your geographic location or, if Beer follows point number two, your phone model.
Fortunately, there’s no guarantee this feature will be available to everyone yet. Beer says initial testing will begin with “a few members of Team X collecting feedback.” And, to his credit, he’s been very thoughtful in the responses to his post, acknowledging that “in countries where speech could be punished, we should replace the country with a region.”
If the new section irritates you, now is the time to speak up. However, if it does appear on your profile one day, it might be for the best. Beer says that if you don’t want certain information on your profile to be published, “privacy switches will be provided.” However, if a user configures them, “it will likely be highlighted on their profile.”
As for me, I’ve essentially moved away from X, and bots have been a major factor. However, I’m not sure encouraging users to judge each other based on location (or even username changes, which often happen during times of turmoil) is the right move. While fake accounts are more common in some countries than others , real users live everywhere, and implying that readers should ignore others based solely on their location risks adding further toxicity. Take this bizarre response to Beer’s statement, which implies that… Canada?… is full of trolls.