Can Meta train its AI with our data on Facebook and Instagram? Without consent? The consumer advice center says no. The Irish data protection authority is now putting the brakes on the project. But you should still object.
If you use Facebook, Instagram or Threads and do nothing else now, your parent company Meta will use your personal data to train artificial intelligence systems. This is what Meta announced in an email to many users. Meta actually wanted to start training on June 26th. But after intervention by the EU data protection authority DPC in Ireland, Meta put its plan on hold for the time being. The DPC announced this at the weekend.
However, on Monday, Meta had not yet removed the announcement of the new data protection policy, which grants it the right to train AI, from its website. Anyone who does not want their data to be used for AI training should object now. This is better than waiting for the outcome of the dispute – and then missing the deadline. You can find out how easy it is to do this below.
Consumer advice center warns Meta
The Irish DPC is not the only one with reservations. The North Rhine-Westphalia Consumer Advice Center also considers the whole thing to be illegal – and has issued a warning to Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd., the group’s European branch, for this reason.
It is unlikely that Meta will give in so easily in this conflict, because there is a lot at stake for the company. In the race for the best AI applications, it is not the person who has the most computing power or who has a head start now who has the advantage. Over time, it will become increasingly important who has the best data for training. And in this respect, Meta has a big advantage over the competition.
Objection form on Instagram and Facebook: The search is like an odyssey
However, anyone looking for the form to object on their own will have to be persistent. Actually, everything on Facebook and Instagram is optimized for a great user experience. After all, people should spend as much time as possible on social networks. But finding the right place to object can turn into a real odyssey: If you go to your profile on Facebook and search for it, for example, you will be faced with a lot of sidetracks. Clicking on “Settings and privacy” and then on “Privacy Center”, for example, does not lead directly to a conspicuous notice. You can only find it by clicking on “Privacy policy”.
However, this only happens if you click on this keyword further down the page. If you click on it in the topic bar on the left, a submenu opens. If you then click on the first point, you will land on the correct page, but the screen will automatically scroll past the crucial information.
The clearer the page, the further you are from the goal
Generally speaking, when searching, you get the impression that the more clearly laid out the page that Facebook shows, the further away you are from your goal. When you finally reach the right page, the font is suddenly super small and the design looks like it did ten years ago.
Once you have found the page, you are still far from your destination. You cannot simply object to the use of the data by clicking on it. Instead, you are asked to fill out a field: “Please explain how this processing affects you,” it says. That sounds like you are in a therapy session. You also have to type in your email address and select the country, even though you have to be logged in to even see the form – both of which are already known to the system. To top it all off, Meta also requires verification via an email code after submitting the objection.
Contradiction at Meta: “The whole process is far too complicated”
For the consumer advice center NRW, the system has. “The whole process is far too complicated,” says lawyer Christine Steffen to the star“You get the impression that Meta is trying to make it impossible for you to successfully submit your objection.” Legally speaking, it is sufficient to send an informal email to Facebook, Insta or Threads. But this is not recommended.
AI images
This is what Europe would (perhaps) look like if one party could do what it wanted
Time is running out, and it is uncertain how Meta will deal with such emails. And once Meta starts using personal data for AI training, it will be difficult to get it out again. “If you don’t object to the use by June 26, you’re out of luck,” fears consumer rights activist Christine Steffen.
Former users should also object
Even those who no longer use Facebook or Instagram but still have data stored there should consider whether they would prefer to object. For the consumer advice center, this aspect of Meta’s approach of not actively obtaining consent but simply getting started is particularly worrying. “Users’ data from many years will be used,” says Christine Steffen. “But users could not have expected at the time what this – sometimes sensitive – data would be used for.”
Meta wants to use all public posts, photos and comments for AI training. “Content from private messages” that are exchanged with family and friends will not be used. Meta argues that it has a “legitimate interest” in using the data, a term from data protection law. This is because the use of the information is about “further developing and improving Meta”.
However, what the exact purpose is in the end remains “very vague,” according to a statement from Hamburg’s data protection officer Thomas Fuchs. According to this, AI features that Meta develops with it should not only be usable for users, but also for companies.
How to object to Meta’s AI training
So that you don’t have to go on an odyssey, here are the links to the correct pages for the objection. As described above, Meta requires that you log in first:
Objection on Facebook
Contradiction on Instagram
Then you shouldn’t be put off by the request “Please explain how this processing affects you”. Simply write: “I do not want my data to be processed for this purpose.” Even users who simply entered “I do not want this” have already had their objection confirmed by Meta.
The second field, “Please enter any additional information that you think might help us review your objection,” is obviously just a deterrent – and can be left blank. Meta usually responds to the objection quickly. If not, it can’t hurt to enter the objection again just to be on the safe side. Maybe something went wrong.
New app feature evaluates photo metadata
And the NRW consumer advice center has noticed something else: a new function in the Facebook app. All photos and videos to which the app has access are analyzed without you noticing. The function is called “Suggestions for sharing content from your pictures.” This analysis of personal data also runs automatically – and must be actively switched off by the users. Instructions on how to do this can be found at Consumer Center.
The consumer protection agency has also warned Meta about this. “We expect all providers to have data-saving default settings. This is what the General Data Protection Regulation, the GDPR, requires,” says Christine Steffen to the star“Meta now has time to respond to the warning.” Here, too, the consumer center is prepared to take legal action.
Note: This article has been updated following intervention by the Irish Data Protection Authority.