Facebook-parent Meta is facing problems for using personal data to train its artificial intelligence (AI) models without seeking consent in the European Union (EU). According to a report by the news agency Reuters, advocacy group Noyb has asked privacy enforcers of multiple countries across the EU to stop the social media giant from using personal data to train its AI models.
Noyb highlighted recent changes in Meta’s privacy policy, which is set to come into force on June 26, would allow it to use years of personal posts, private images or online tracking data to help the Facebook-parent with developing its AI models.
List of countries where Meta faces complaints
The advocacy group has launched complaints against Meta in 11 EU countries. Nyob has also reportedly asked the data protection authorities in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Spain to launch an urgent procedure to counter the upcoming changes.
What Meta has to say about this
Meta has reportedly cited a blog from May to defend its data practices. The blog claims that the company uses publicly available online information, licensed data, and information users share publicly on their platforms to train AI.
However, Meta sent an email to its users saying they may process data from people who never used their services, if those individuals appear in images or posts shared by others. This contradicts the company’s policies.
In a statement to Reuters, a Meta spokesperson said: “We are confident that our approach complies with privacy laws, and our approach is consistent with how other tech companies are developing and improving their AI experiences in Europe (including Google and Open AI).”
In the email, Meta noted that they will offer opt out options to users in the EU and the UK as the region’s privacy legislation makes it mandatory. However, that might not be the case for users living outside the EU and the UK.
Noyb highlighted recent changes in Meta’s privacy policy, which is set to come into force on June 26, would allow it to use years of personal posts, private images or online tracking data to help the Facebook-parent with developing its AI models.
List of countries where Meta faces complaints
The advocacy group has launched complaints against Meta in 11 EU countries. Nyob has also reportedly asked the data protection authorities in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Spain to launch an urgent procedure to counter the upcoming changes.
What Meta has to say about this
Meta has reportedly cited a blog from May to defend its data practices. The blog claims that the company uses publicly available online information, licensed data, and information users share publicly on their platforms to train AI.
However, Meta sent an email to its users saying they may process data from people who never used their services, if those individuals appear in images or posts shared by others. This contradicts the company’s policies.
In a statement to Reuters, a Meta spokesperson said: “We are confident that our approach complies with privacy laws, and our approach is consistent with how other tech companies are developing and improving their AI experiences in Europe (including Google and Open AI).”
In the email, Meta noted that they will offer opt out options to users in the EU and the UK as the region’s privacy legislation makes it mandatory. However, that might not be the case for users living outside the EU and the UK.