Responding to questions from this publication, a Meta spokesperson did not deny claims the company had used public posts and captions from Australian Facebook and Instagram users to train its AI systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWith the release of our AI experiences, we\u2019ve shared details about the kinds of information we use to build and improve AI experiences \u2013 which includes public posts from Instagram and Facebook \u2013 consistent with our privacy policy and terms of service,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We will continue to build AI at Meta responsibly and bring this innovation to people and businesses around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUsing publicly available information to train AI models is an industry-wide practice, and is not unique to our services.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meta said it did not train AI models using posts from private Facebook and Instagram accounts, nor posts from account holders under the age of 18.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company\u2019s director of product management for generative AI data and safety, Mike Clark, wrote in September 2023<\/a> that Meta had begun to use \u201cpublicly shared posts from Instagram and Facebook \u2013 including photos and text\u201d to help train its generative AI models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Messages which users sent to Meta\u2019s AI chatbots<\/a> were also used, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clark added that Meta did not use the content of users\u2019 private Messenger or WhatsApp messages, but did use \u201cinformation that\u2019s publicly available online, licensed data and information from Meta\u2019s products and services\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A spokesperson for the OAIC told Information Age<\/em> that the watchdog encouraged Australians to \u201cregularly review and update their privacy settings to ensure they are not publicly sharing information they\u2019d rather keep private, including to prevent their posts and content being used to train AI models\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The spokesperson added that under the Australian Privacy Act, privacy obligations would apply when personal information was used to train AI systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They added that organisations could only use this information for purposes other than its original purpose \u201cif the individual has consented, or if the individual would reasonably expect the organisation to use it for those purposes\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unlike Facebook and Instagram users in Europe and the UK, Australian users don\u2019t currently have the option to opt-out of their public posts and captions being used to train Meta\u2019s AI systems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This is because Europe\u2019s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)<\/a> \u2014 one of the strongest privacy laws in the world \u2014 makes it harder for Meta and other companies to collect user data in that region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Australian users can, however, submit requests regarding how their personal information from third parties is used<\/a>to train Meta\u2019s AI systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Australians can also delete personal information they\u2019ve provided to the Meta AI chatbot<\/a>, but this is mainly done to correct inaccuracies in its responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Australian government has so far only committed to a handful of recommendations<\/a> from the Attorney-General’s review of the nation\u2019s Privacy Act, which was released in February 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Australia\u2019s eSafety Commissioner recently signed an administrative agreement with the European Commission to support each other’s regulation of online platforms, in which \u201calgorithms and artificial intelligence\u201d was listed as a common interest.<\/p>\n\n\n In May, Meta began notifying users in Europe and the UK about upcoming changes to its privacy policy (then scheduled for 26 June) which would give it the right to use public posts from those users to train its AI systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhy Australians can\u2019t opt out of AI training <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nWhy Meta paused European AI training <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n