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Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has announced it will resume using publicly available information from adult users in the UK to train its artificial intelligence (AI) models. The company will leverage public posts, comments, photos, and captions from users on both platforms as part of its AI development efforts. This follows a brief regulatory pause in AI activities within Europe.
“We’re building AI at Meta to reflect the diverse communities around the world, and we look forward to expanding this technology to more countries and languages later this year,” Meta said in a statement.
Meta clarified that the data collected for AI training will only involve content from adults, excluding any information from users under the age of 18. The company had previously paused AI releases in the European Union in response to an order from the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), which raised concerns about data privacy during the rollout of Meta’s AI assistant in the region. Meta maintains that its AI model training is conducted with user consent and provides an opt-out option for those who do not wish to participate.
Public Information Only for AI Training
Meta reiterated that it will use only publicly shared content from UK-based adults on Facebook and Instagram to enhance its AI capabilities. This move is aimed at improving the features and experiences offered by Meta’s platforms through its generative AI models.
UK users will soon receive in-app notifications informing them about Meta’s data usage practices and providing the opportunity to object to their data being used for AI training. Meta emphasized that it will continue to honor any previous objections submitted by users regarding data usage.
“We won’t contact individuals who have already objected, and we will honor their choices, including new objections submitted through our platform,” the company added.
Increased Scrutiny from Regulators
The Irish Data Protection Commission, the EU’s primary regulatory body for overseeing compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), has been intensifying its scrutiny of AI practices. In September, the DPC launched an investigation into Google Ireland Limited to assess whether the company’s AI model development adhered to EU data protection laws. The focus of the investigation is Google’s Pathways Language Model 2 (PaLM2), which was introduced in May 2023 and boasts advanced multilingual and reasoning capabilities.
This increased vigilance from the DPC follows a similar investigation into the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), which concluded after the company agreed to stop using personal data from EU and European Economic Area (EEA) users to train its AI chatbot, Grok.
As Meta resumes its AI training efforts in the UK, the company will continue to navigate the evolving landscape of data privacy regulations, ensuring compliance with local and international standards.
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