Safeguarding personal information - Consumer advisory group cautions Meta on AI instruction.
The Consumer Center of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) has issued a warning to Meta, the parent company of Facebook, in an effort to stop them from using the content of their users for training their Artificial Intelligence (AI) models without proper consent. Meta's European subsidiary, Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd., has been asked to provide a cease and desist declaration.
Lately, Meta has been sending mass emails to Facebook, Instagram, and Threads users to inform them about changes to their data protection policy. The email states, "We are updating our data protection policy because we are expanding AI at Meta." It also informs users about their right to object.
The consumer advocates in North Rhine-Westphalia are worried that Meta customers need to actively object if they don't want their posts used for AI training. They claim the process is "cumbersome and not user-friendly."
They also criticize Facebook for recently starting to analyze users' private photo libraries by default. Now, Facebook app users receive suggestions about which photos or videos they can share on the platform. North Rhine-Westphalia's Consumer Center believes that both changes — AI training and photo analysis — infringe on the users' data protection rights.
Meta claims their actions are in accordance with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). However, the company also says in the email to users, "To offer you these usage experiences, we will, in the future, refer to the legal basis of legitimate interest when we use your information to further develop and improve AI at Meta."
The consumer advocates disagree with Meta's interpretation of data protection law. According to Wolfgang Schuldzinski, the managing director of the Consumer Center NRW, using personal data for AI training should not be permitted without the user's consent. "Because the data used in this process can be very sensitive." Users might not have foreseen that the information they posted would be utilized for AI training in the future.
Meta has been given until June 19, 2024, to provide a cease and desist declaration following the warning from the Consumer Center NRW. If the company fails to comply with this deadline, the consumer advocates can file a lawsuit.
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The warning from the Consumer Center of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) targets Meta Platforms, the U.S.-based company behind Facebook, due to concerns about data protection and AI training. Meta's European subsidiary has been asked to stop using user data without explicit consent.
The email sent by Meta to its users informs them about changes to the data protection policy, indicating an expansion of AI at Meta. However, the Consumer Advice Center of NRW argues that users should actively object to prevent their posts from being used for AI training, as the process is considered cumbersome and not user-friendly.
Meta's analysis of users' private photo libraries, which provides suggestions for sharing, is also criticized by the Consumer Center. They believe that both changes infringe on users' data protection rights as per GDPR regulations.
Meta claims their actions are in line with GDPR, citing 'legitimate interest' as the legal basis for AI development. However, the Consumer Center NRW disagrees and believes that user consent should be mandatory for AI training due to the sensitive nature of the data involved.
Meta has been given until June 19, 2024, to provide a cease and desist declaration in response to the warning. Failure to comply could result in a lawsuit by the consumer advocates based in Düsseldorf, Germany.
The consumer advocates advocating for users' data protection rights in North Rhine-Westphalia stress the importance of upholding these rights in the era of increasing reliance on Artificial Intelligence, including in platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.
Meta's actions related to AI training and photo analysis have raised concerns among not just consumers in NRW, but also globally, as the use of AI becomes more prevalent in our daily digital interactions.
The conversation around data protection and AI advances further globally, with many countries formulating regulations and guidelines to safeguard consumer privacy and mitigate potential misuses of AI technologies.
The discourse on AI and data protection is not confined to Meta, but its impact on consumer rights is a relevant topic of discussion within the broader context of AI development in the USA and globally.
