Meta fed its AI on everything adults have publicly posted since 2007
Meta has acknowledged using public posts from adult users on Facebook and Instagram for AI training since 2007, raising privacy concerns and highlighting the need for stronger regulations.
Read original article
Meta has confirmed that it has utilized nearly all publicly posted content from adult users on Facebook and Instagram since 2007 to train its artificial intelligence models. This acknowledgment came during a local government inquiry in Australia, where Meta's global privacy director, Melinda Claybaugh, initially denied the claims but later admitted the practice. Unless users have actively set their posts to private, Meta has collected all public posts and comments for AI training purposes. The company has been vague about the specifics of its data collection timeline and practices. While European users can opt out due to local privacy laws, users in other regions, including Australia, currently do not have this option. Claybaugh stated that Meta does not scrape data from users under 18, but confirmed that public posts from adult accounts created when the user was a minor could still be collected. The inquiry highlighted concerns about the exploitation of personal data, particularly regarding children’s images, and emphasized the need for stronger privacy regulations to protect users from such practices.
- Meta has used public posts from Facebook and Instagram users since 2007 for AI training.
- Users must set their posts to private to prevent data scraping; otherwise, their content is collected.
- European users can opt out of data collection, but users in other regions cannot.
- Concerns were raised about the collection of data from accounts created by minors.
- The inquiry underscored the need for improved privacy regulations to protect user data.
Related
My Memories Are Just Meta's Training Data Now
Meta's use of personal content from Facebook and Instagram for AI training raises privacy concerns. European response led to a temporary pause, reflecting the ongoing debate on tech companies utilizing personal data for AI development.
Brazil data regulator bans Meta from mining data to train AI models
Brazil's data protection authority prohibits Meta from using Brazilian data for AI training, citing privacy concerns. Meta faces fines if non-compliant. Similar actions in Europe. Emphasis on safeguarding personal data.
A New Development in the Debate About Instagram and Teens
Meta launches a pilot program with the Center for Open Science, granting researchers access to Instagram data to study its impact on teen well-being. The initiative aims to address concerns about social media's effects on mental health.
EU threatens to fine Meta for saying Facebook is 'free'
The European Union warns Meta about its "pay or consent" model for Facebook and Instagram, citing potential breaches of consumer protection laws. Meta has until September 1st to propose changes to avoid fines.
Facebook uses Australian adults public photos/posts to train AI, without opt-out
Facebook scrapes public data from Australian adult users for AI training without an opt-out option, unlike EU users. The Australian government plans to reform the outdated Privacy Act amid online safety concerns.
- Many commenters express a lack of surprise, suggesting that using public data is expected behavior from Meta.
- Concerns about privacy and the implications of using user-generated content for AI training are prevalent.
- Some users argue that if content is publicly posted, it is fair game for use, while others question the ethics of this practice.
- There are mixed feelings about the quality and intelligence of AI trained on social media data.
- Several comments highlight the need for clearer regulations and user awareness regarding data usage on platforms like Facebook.
46 commentsIf it is trained on private information, then I would have issue with it.
I don’t use Facebook. I’m not sure if they can peek into WhatsApp messages.
Actual article: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-11/facebook-scraping-pho...
(More discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41508158)
The objective answer feels like No but the subjective answer feels like Yes. Humans will never understand how an animal truely thinks but we understand how to control them.
People just submitted it.
I don't know why.
They 'trust me'.
Dumb fucks.
Things change, but this never stop being a concise summary of Meta's ethos as a company.
Of course I'm sure Meta is also training their AI on content that they scraped from the internet/other sources without permission...
At least it's better than scraping content off platform (which I'm sure they've done) and using that, but using content posted on their own platform seems like a no-brainer.
... or does everyone around here think anything different is happening to their posts?
Of course they'd do this! How did people think feed ranking worked?
The only reason this is being reported now is because there's a chatbot and I guess that feels different to people.
Related
My Memories Are Just Meta's Training Data Now
Meta's use of personal content from Facebook and Instagram for AI training raises privacy concerns. European response led to a temporary pause, reflecting the ongoing debate on tech companies utilizing personal data for AI development.
Brazil data regulator bans Meta from mining data to train AI models
Brazil's data protection authority prohibits Meta from using Brazilian data for AI training, citing privacy concerns. Meta faces fines if non-compliant. Similar actions in Europe. Emphasis on safeguarding personal data.
A New Development in the Debate About Instagram and Teens
Meta launches a pilot program with the Center for Open Science, granting researchers access to Instagram data to study its impact on teen well-being. The initiative aims to address concerns about social media's effects on mental health.
EU threatens to fine Meta for saying Facebook is 'free'
The European Union warns Meta about its "pay or consent" model for Facebook and Instagram, citing potential breaches of consumer protection laws. Meta has until September 1st to propose changes to avoid fines.
Facebook uses Australian adults public photos/posts to train AI, without opt-out
Facebook scrapes public data from Australian adult users for AI training without an opt-out option, unlike EU users. The Australian government plans to reform the outdated Privacy Act amid online safety concerns.