DPC “U-turns” after initial improvement. While the DPC has initially approved the introduction of Meta AI in the EU/EEA, it seems that other regulators have pushed back in the past days and led the DPC to U-turn in its advice to Meta. The DPC now announced:
“The DPC welcomes the decision by Meta to pause its plans to train its large language model using public content shared by adults on Facebook and Instagram across the EU/EEA. This decision followed intensive engagement between the DPC and Meta. The DPC, in co-operation with its fellow EU data protection authorities, will continue to engage with Meta on this issue.”
There is so far no further context or information what this engagement looked like or why the DPC changed its mind.
Pressure by noyb and local DPAs. The obvious explanation would be that after 11 complaints with various DPAs in Europe by noyb and other organizations (like the Norwegian Consumer Council), as well as public reactions by EU/EEA DPAs in reaction to these complaints the pressure on the DPC was mounting.
Max Schrems, chair of noyb: “We welcome this development, but will monitor this closely. So far there is no official change of the Meta privacy policy, which would make this commitment legally binding. The cases we filed are ongoing and will need a determination.”
Meta worried about EU users? Just ask for opt-in consent! As any Meta message, the announcement does not lack re-framing and disingenuous claims. Meta highlights that EU/EEA users will not be able to use AI services for the time being. However, this does not seem overly logical. The GDPR allows to do almost anything, if users give (valid) opt-in consent. Meta could therefore roll out AI technology in Europe, if it would just bother to ask people to agree, but it seems Meta is doing everything to ever gain opt-in consent for any processing.
Max Schrems: “The Meta press release reads a bit like ‘collective punishment’. If any European insists on his or her rights, the entire continent will not get our shiny new products. However, Meta has every option to roll out AI based on valid consent – it just chooses not to do so.“
Announcement on Friday afternoon. As usual for defeats of “big tech” companies this announcement comes on a Friday evening, when news get picked up the least. It seems that Meta wants to play down this story – that could also influence its stock prices.