X (formerly Twitter) is enabling audio and video calls by default for its roughly 550 million users, sparking privacy and security concerns.
Critics say the lack of a consent mechanism before initiating calls and the potential for unwanted contact from long-forgotten connections could amplify the risk of privacy intrusion. Even more disturbing, users’ IP addresses are exposed during calls.
Your IP address is akin to a digital home address, and it could reveal a lot about you, including your location. X’s decision to leave users’ IPs exposed may potentially lead to doxing, where malicious actors obtain and publicly share personal information about someone.
X Is Rolling out Support for Audio and Video Calls
On Feb. 28, X announced that all users can now make audio and video calls. Until now, the feature was limited to premium users.
“audio and video calling are now available to everyone on X! who are you calling first?” X said in a post.
The new feature allows calls from “People you follow,” potentially leading to unsolicited calls from individuals you may not wish to communicate with. This may be a risk as many users have accumulated a large number of followers over the years — some of whom they may not actively engage with.
The ease with which calls can be initiated without any prompts or warnings further exacerbates these concerns.
“Better change your settings quick or the spam bots are going be calling you 24/7,” a user on X said.
How to Protect Your Privacy on X (Twitter)
It’s important to take action measures to protect your IP address from leaking on X. Thankfully, you can easily disable the audio and video calling feature within the platform’s settings.
To disable this feature, go to your privacy settings and toggle “Enable audio and video calling” to off under direct messages.
If you prefer to keep it on, you can enable “Enhanced call privacy” options to prevent your IP address from being exposed during calls.
Whether you use this new feature or not, it’s important to also use a trusted virtual private network (VPN) like NordVPN to give you an extra layer of protection online. A VPN hides your IP address and blocks any attempts to snoop on your online activities.
Refer to our Twitter privacy settings guide to learn about other ways to keep your X account private.
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