A hot potato: The issue of user content being used to train AI is a controversial one. Meta has been doing it with publicly available data for a while now, but its latest move is causing even more outcry: Facebook is asking for access to users' camera rolls so Meta AI can offer suggested edits to photos that haven't been uploaded.
The intrusive request appears when Facebook users create a new "Story" on the app. TechCrunch reports that it's here where a popup appears asking if users want to opt in to "cloud processing."
The message explains that allowing cloud processing gives Facebook permission to search through your camera roll and generate content that you might want to upload to the platform. This includes making collages, recaps, AI restylings, and creating themes such as birthdays and locations.
Approving this request also means giving Facebook permission to upload media from your camera roll to its servers on an "ongoing basis," based on information such as time, location, or themes.
While the popup tries to assuage fears by explaining that only the user sees the suggestions and they won't be used for ad targeting, tapping allow does mean agreeing to Meta's AI Terms. These allows Meta's AI to analyze your media, the facial features of anyone in your camera roll, and the dates and locations where the images were taken.
Meta adds that it will use information like dates and presence of people and objects to create ideas.
In 2024, Meta announced that it would use public posts and photos from users to train its AI. There's no way of opting out in the US, meaning making posts private is the only way to stop new content from being accessed. Those in the EU and UK can opt out, but the process is an arduous one – likely intentionally so.
If, for some reason, you do allow Meta access to your phone's library, there is a way to undo this action. Simply toggle the appropriate options in Settings under the Preferences section for camera roll suggestions and cloud processing.
Meta confirmed that the feature is a test. "We're exploring ways to make content sharing easier for people on Facebook by testing suggestions of ready-to-share and curated content from a person's camera roll," a spokesperson told TechCrunch. They added that the media on a phone will not be used to improve AI models – unless you upload it and make the post public, presumably.