Meta Admits Scraping Public Facebook and Instagram Posts for AI Training

Meta has confirmed its use of public posts from Facebook and Instagram to train AI models, raising privacy concerns globally.

Meta's global privacy director, Melinda Claybaugh, admitted the company has been scraping public posts from Facebook and Instagram since 2007.
The data collection includes photos and texts from public posts, but excludes accounts of users under 18, though photos of children posted by parents are included.
European users have the option to opt out of this data collection due to GDPR regulations, but no such option is available for users in Australia or the US.
The admission came during a public inquiry in Australia, where Meta faced scrutiny over its privacy practices and lack of consent options for users.
Meta paused the launch of its AI product in Europe due to privacy concerns and regulatory challenges, highlighting ongoing legal questions around AI and data privacy.