Meta's use of EU data for AI may lead to lawsuit from data protection advocates
From May 27, Meta wants to start using EU user data for AI training. The data protection organization Noyb is now taking action against this.
(Image: Hengki Tj/Shutterstock.com)
If you want your public posts and information to be taken into account in Meta's artificial intelligence, it's easy and you simply don't have to do anything. But if you don't want this, you have to click through several pages and a text link to an objection form. The data protection organization Noyb considers this to be unlawful and has now sent a cease-and-desist letter to Meta's European headquarters in Ireland. If the Facebook and WhatsApp parent company does not give in, the organization, which is based in Vienna (Austria), has announced that it will go to court with an EU-wide injunction.
From May 27, Meta plans to use personal data from Instagram and Facebook users from the European Union for AI training. The US company justifies the fact that Meta simply takes this data and users have to opt out by stating a "legitimate interest" in accordance with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation. In addition, users need to hurry. Anyone who objects after May 26 may no longer be able to have their data removed from the training material. The objection will then only apply to new posts and information published after the objection deadline.
Noyb: Meta would have to ask for consent
The data protection experts at Noyb are of the opinion that Meta should explicitly ask users for their consent, the so-called opt-in. After all, the European Court of Justice has already ruled in the case of personalized advertising that Meta cannot claim a "legitimate interest". This applies all the more to Meta AI, as the right to be forgotten, the possibility of correcting the data and the right of access are also affected. After all, Meta could no longer retrieve its freely available open source model Llama with the data used. Noyb points out that other AI providers such as OpenAI and Mistral also offer AI models without the use of social media data, which are also superior to Meta's in many respects.
Videos by heise
Noyb also believes that the new EU class action directive, which allows qualified institutions to sue for large sums of damages, is likely to be successful. This could persuade multi-billion corporations to respond to the concerns. In addition to Noyb, Meta is also facing headwinds from consumer protection organizations because of its AI. Noyb is disappointed with the responsible data protection authorities. Although they have not approved Meta's actions, they are shifting the responsibility onto citizens, the organization criticizes.
(mki)
