Is Meta allowed to train its AI with our data on Facebook and Instagram? Without further consent? The consumer advice center says no – and complains that Meta makes it unnecessarily difficult to object.
Anyone who uses Facebook, Instagram or Threads and does nothing else now will have their personal data used to a large extent by the parent company Meta to train its artificial intelligence systems. This is what Meta announced in an email to many users – but this email has not yet reached everyone. Anyone who does not want this must object. Meta’s deadline expires in two weeks, on June 26, and then the company could begin training.
The North Rhine-Westphalia Consumer Advice Center considers the whole thing to be illegal – and has issued a warning to Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd., the European branch of the group. It is unlikely that Meta will simply comply with the Consumer Advice Center’s warning; the case will probably go to court. That is why all users should now take action themselves. However, it is hardly advisable to look for the objection form on your own. That will only lead to frustration. (We describe how to do this very easily below.)
Meta’s objection form: The search is like an odyssey
Otherwise, everything on Facebook and Instagram is optimized for a great user experience. People should spend as much time as possible on social media. 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 branches. 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 a long way from your goal. 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 if you are already logged in, so both are already known to the system. To top this odyssey 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 is particularly worrying about Meta’s approach of not actively obtaining consent but simply getting started. “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 right pages for the objection:
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 user. Instructions on how to do this can be found at .
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.
Source: Stern