June 7, 2024 Meta’s recent move to use public posts and images from Facebook and Instagram for training its AI tools has sparked criticism from digital rights groups. As the company rolls out privacy policy changes on June 26, users over 18 will have their publicly shared content used to “develop and improve” AI products, excluding private messages.

Noyb, a European digital rights advocacy group, decried this as “abuse of personal data for AI” and filed complaints with 11 data protection authorities across Europe, demanding immediate action to halt Meta’s plans. Meta asserts its approach is legally compliant and aligns with practices of other tech giants.

The notification process informing users of these changes has also been criticized. Users must opt-out by exercising their “right to object” through a form, which Noyb co-founder Max Schrems describes as a burdensome process that should instead require user consent to opt-in. Despite Meta’s confidence in its compliance with privacy laws, the Irish Data Protection Commission is investigating following Noyb’s complaint.