Meta has received numerous complaints about AI users' personal data being used without permission

On June 5, Meta Platforms received 11 complaints about proposed changes to the way it uses personal data to train its artificial intelligence (AI) models without obtaining consent, which could breach European Union data protection regulations data.

The privacy group None of Your Business (NYOB) urged national data protection authorities to stop Meta's changes. The complaints were filed in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Spain.

It claims that Meta's updated privacy policy, which went into effect on June 26, will allow the company to use years of personal posts, images and online tracking data for its AI technology without users' consent.

Due to the upcoming changes, NYOB has requested urgent checks from data protection authorities in the 11 countries.

According to the group, Meta's new privacy policy asserts that it has a legitimate interest in using user data to train and develop its generative AI models and other AI tools that can be shared with third parties.

The policy change affects millions of European users, preventing them from removing their data once it's in the system.

NYOB has already filed multiple complaints against Meta and other major tech companies for alleged breaches of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which can lead to fines of up to 4% of a company's global turnover for breaches.

Max Schrems, founder of NYOB, emphasized , that in 2021 the Court of Justice of the European Union made an important decision on this matter, which should be guiding in considering Meta's proposed use of personal data.

He stated:

It seems that once again Meta is blatantly ignoring the rulings of the Court of Justice of the EU.

Schrems argues that it is unreasonable to shift the responsibility for protecting personal data to consumers. The law requires Meta to obtain express consent from users and not provide a hidden and misleading opt-out option.

He emphasized that if Meta wants to use users' data, it must directly ask for permission. Instead, the company has made users request opt-outs from data usage, which is inappropriate.

In July 2023, Google was similarly sued after it updated its privacy policy. The lawsuit accused Google of misusing large amounts of data, including copyrighted material, to train artificial intelligence.