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Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, has admitted to collecting all public posts on these platforms since 2007. This data is used to train their Artificial Intelligence (AI). This revelation took place as part of an investigation in Australia, but has global relevance. This practice raises concerns about data protection and user privacy, especially when compared to competitors like Apple, which have strict data protection policies.
Meta has admittedthat since 2007, all public posts, photos, and comments from Facebook and Instagram have been collected to improve their AI systems. Even though the company had previously announced plans to use posts to improve AI in the future, it is now clear that this has been the practice for years. Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, presented it as a new initiative in June 2024, but it turns out that this has been going on for much longer. Meta uses this data to train its own AI models, similar to ChatGPT. The difference is that Meta has even more data at its disposal, which greatly accelerates their AI development. This realization has raised major concerns, especially regarding the handling of personal data without users' explicit consent.
data protection concerns and legal issues
This data collection has raised significant privacy concerns, particularly as many users were unaware that their posts were being used for such purposes. While Meta has introduced an opt-out option in the EU and UK, allowing users to decide against having their data used, this option has not been offered in other countries such as the US and Australia, raising many questions about the global fairness of privacy policies. Another controversial issue is how it handles data from minors. Meta has admitted that photos of children posted by their parents on their accounts are also included in the data collection. This is particularly sensitive as children often have no way of deciding for themselves whether their images are shared publicly.
The revelation by the Australian investigation
The truth about the years of data collection was uncovered during an Australian investigation. Australian Senator Tony Sheldon asked Melinda Claybaugh, Meta's global privacy officer, specific questions about the use of Australian posts from 2007. Claybaugh initially denied that Meta had used posts from that time. But after repeated questioning, she admitted that all public posts since 2007 were used - unless they were explicitly set to private. What is particularly worrying is that many users may not have been aware that their posts were marked "public" by default and were therefore being used for that purpose. This includes photos of children posted by parents on publicly visible profiles.
What does this mean for you?
If you use Facebook or Instagram, it's very likely that some of your public posts have been included in Meta's AI training data. Even if you set your posts to private now, older, publicly shared content may have already been used. It's important that you regularly review your privacy settings and make sure you know exactly which of your posts are publicly available. Meta offers opt-out options in some regions, but many countries do not offer this option. If you have concerns about how your data is used, you should learn what rights you have in your country and whether you can take steps to prevent your data from being used.
Meta and data protection: How public contributions have been used since 2007
Meta has admitted to systematically collecting public posts from Facebook and Instagram since 2007 to train its AI. Many users were unaware of this practice and it has raised questions about the company's data protection and transparency. Users in countries without an opt-out option are particularly affected, as are children, whose images could also be included in the data collection. It remains to be seen how Meta and other companies will handle such data in the future and whether stricter data protection regulations will be introduced worldwide. It is important for you as a user to check your privacy settings and be aware of what data you are sharing publicly. (Photo by bigtunaonline / Bigstockphoto)
