The announcement was made discreetly and raised a lot of criticism among Internet users. Good news for Europe, the project has finally come up against the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). While the first experiments to train Meta’s AI via Facebook and Instagram posts were supposed to begin on June 26, the company announced its immediate suspension.
While the use of user data for AI training purposes has made privacy advocates cringe, it’s no surprise that Meta has been forced to do an about-face in Europe. The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) welcomed this decision, which was made after several exchanges between the American giant and the European regulator on the need to comply with European data protection laws, as well as the GDPR. Although the regulator had initially given the green light to Meta, it reversed its decision after a major revolt by the relevant authorities. “This decision follows an intense engagement between the DPC and Meta. The DPC, in collaboration with other European data protection authorities, will continue to work with Meta on this issue.”
European internet users can therefore breathe a sigh of relief, after 11 complaints filed across the European Union by the European Centre for Digital Rights, Meta is preparing to abandon – at least temporarily – its projects. In a blog post, Meta had already announced the new AI features to come, relying on its “legitimate interests” to process millions of data points and improve its AI.
“We welcome this development, but we will be watching it closely,” Max Schrems, president of privacy group Noyb, said in a press release posted on its official website. Since Meta’s privacy policy has not yet been fully updated to confirm the suspension of the operation, it is advisable to remain cautious: “So far there is no official change to Meta’s privacy policy”, the complaints filed by Noyb therefore remain current, until the official ratification by the American giant.
