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Meta Platforms is looking to resume training their generative AI model on Facebook and Instagram public posts from users in the UK. The public photos with captions and comment threads would also be used for the AI training.
Meta said that private messages and user data of people below 18 would not be used. Meta had restarted receiving approval from the UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
Meta froze all AI training on the continent last June 2024 after the Irish Data Protection Commission said that it needed to put its operations on ice for a while. Whether it was going to be within the realm of the strict rules Europe had developed to respect its regulation on data security, like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Meta further delayed training of its AI model over the need to respond to complaints raised by the ICO in the UK and to ensure that all recommendations were already in place.
Since deciding to be proactive with regulators in the UK, Meta is good to go again on AI training efforts. "Since we paused training our generative AI models in the UK to address regulatory feedback, we've engaged positively with the ICO. This clarity and certainty will help us bring AI to Meta products in the UK much sooner," the company said in its official update on Friday.
Meta’s AI models-crafted from vast amounts of publicly available social media content adhere to the norms of local jurisdictions and do not infringe upon the rights of users to their privacy.
UK Facebook and Instagram users will start to receive in-app notifications about how Meta works relating to collecting public content from next week onwards. These warnings would inform users of how their shared posts may be utilized in training the AI and provide the choice to opt-out. Meta categorically stated that only content from adult users who had not opted out would be used for training the AI. There was to be no access for training purposes to private messages or any other confidential information.
Austrian-based privacy activist organization NOYB -None of Your Business pushed ahead early this year in filing objections asking European regulators to halt Meta's training of its AI based on posts across social media. The organization further declared that the company failed to provide proper initial notices fully in line with the transparency requirements of the GDPR. This regulatory backlash has forced Meta to halt its operations in Europe; however, it seems that the company has soothed the concerns at least over the UK with its new posture.
