Uproar in Germany

User data for AI training: Meta receives warning letter

Meta Group CEO Mark Zuckerberg

(Bild: APA/Getty Images via AFP/GETTY IMAGES/ALEX WONG)

The North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) consumer advice center has issued a warning to the Facebook group Meta to prevent the internet company from using its users' content to train its AI models without being asked. 

The European subsidiary Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd. has been asked to issue a cease-and-desist declaration.

Meta has written to Facebook, Instagram and Threads users en masse over the past few days to inform them of the changes to its privacy policy. "We are updating our privacy policy as we expand AI at Meta," the email reads. The text also informs users of their right to object.

The consumer advocates from North Rhine-Westphalia are bothered by the fact that Meta customers must actively object if they do not agree with the AI training based on their postings.

"The objection procedure is very cumbersome and not very user-friendly." They also criticize the fact that Facebook now carries out further analysis of the private photo library as standard: Users of the Facebook app now received suggestions as to which photos or videos from their personal storage they could share on the platform. In the view of the NRW consumer advice center, both changes - the AI training and the photo analysis - violate users' data protection rights.

Meta sees no violations
Meta is of the opinion that its approach does not violate the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The email to users states: "In order to offer you these user experiences, we will in future rely on the legal basis of legitimate interest when we use your information to further develop and improve AI at Meta."

The consumer advocates do not agree with this interpretation of data protection law. "Meta is making it too easy for itself here," explained Wolfgang Schuldzinski, CEO of the NRW consumer advice center. The use of private data for the training of artificial intelligence should not take place without the user's consent. "Because the personal data used in this process can be very sensitive." In the past, users could not have foreseen that the information they posted could be used to train AI in the future.

Following the warning from the NRW consumer advice center, the company has until 19 June 2024 to submit a cease-and-desist declaration. If Meta misses the deadline, the consumer advocates can take legal action.