Personal Data Authority: 'Take action now if you don't want Meta AI training with your data'

Meta wants to use all public data from adult users, such as posts, photos and comments, to train Meta AI. AP vice president Monique Verdier: "The risk is that as a user, you lose control over your personal data. You once posted something on Instagram or Facebook and that data will soon be in that AI model. Without knowing exactly what happens to it.'

Object now

It is important that users who do not want this to happen object now. On May 27, 2025, Meta will start training. 'And once your data is in the AI model, you can't just get it out again,' Verdier says. Objections can be made through Instagram's objection form or Facebook's. Meta has indicated it will not use the data of anyone who objects to train AI.

Responsibility Meta

The AP is now asking users to take action themselves, but the responsibility for complying with privacy laws obviously lies with Meta itself. The AP is very concerned about the plans of Meta and other large platforms to use user data to train AI. European privacy regulators are therefore on top of it. The Irish regulator is leading on this, because the European headquarters of Meta and many other tech companies is in Ireland.

The question is whether this is allowed

It is not yet a done deal whether Meta will be allowed to do what the company intends. One of the questions is whether Meta's opt-out model ("he who remains silent, agrees") meets the conditions that apply. The AP and other European regulators are in close consultation with the Irish regulator on this issue.

After talks with the Irish regulator, Meta postponed earlier plans to train AI with data from European users. This was in the summer of 2024.

WhatsApp

It is already possible for some Dutch WhatsApp users to chat one-on-one with Meta AI, or engage Meta AI in a chat with someone else. Those messages are also used to train Meta AI. Objecting to this does not seem to be possible. Chats between people in WhatsApp are not used to train Meta AI, as long as Meta AI is not involved in the conversation, Meta said.