People Don't Realize Meta's AI App Is Publicly Blasting Their Humiliating Secrets to the World

Yahoo

a day ago

At this point, we're probably all familiar with the trope of the dirty old uncle who doesn't realize that simping for thirst traps on social shows up on his public feed.
Now, in a hilarious 2025 riffs on the phenomenon, users of Meta's AI app are inadvertently posting the most private queries imaginable to what they don't realize is showing up for anyone to see.
Released in late April, Meta's "AI assistant" app — really just a flashy chatbot meant to harvest your data — has quickly become a go-to virtual helper for many around the world. Just a month after its release, Meta bragged that its app had surpassed over 1 billion users. There's just one tiny problem: everything you ask Meta's AI is liable to wind up in a public feed for the whole world to laugh at.
From when you first log in, the app is eager to get you rolling. The first thing a new user sees is a sparse screen populated with suggested prompts, ranging from "let's get to know each other" and "describe me in three emojis."
If an unsuspecting user — say, a granddad not well-versed in tech — decides to start here, they might accidentally stumble into a little "share" icon in the top corner that uploads their query into the app's "discover feed."
Given the virtual assistant's life-like voice and instance-based chat sessions, one would be forgiven for thinking that one-on-ones with Meta AI would remain private, no matter what random buttons you click. Meta even addresses this on its website: "as always, you're in control: nothing is shared to your feed unless you choose to post it."
Nothing could be further from the truth. A quick survey of the app's discover feed reveals a mountain of exchanges that people are almost certainly not intending to share publicly.
Tucked among the now-to-be-expected generative AI slop — stuff like "teen girl walks her raptor on a leash casually," or "Wonder Woman driving a 1965 green mustang fastback" — are scores of chatbot queries with some astonishingly personal information.
"How do i [sic] improve my bowel movements," one user asked, for instance. The chatbot responds with some general tips, then explicitly asks for personal details: "what's your current diet and lifestyle like? Any specific issues you're experiencing with bowel movements?"
"I have high calestrerol and often strugfle with stool movement is it ralated?" asks the user, with typographical errors throughout. Horrifyingly, if you logged into Meta AI with an existing Facebook or Instagram account, whatever name you have visible on there — your real one, for most users — is visible under your public queries.
The unfortunate user struggling with bowel movements, for example, has a profile containing other private questions, like "whats the easiest way to get rid of crabs?" followed up with "is their a reason i keep getten [sic] em?"
Like the discover feed, the privacy violations are endless.
Other examples we found include teachers generating test questions, users asking for situationship advice, more queries on sexual hygiene, detailed discussions about medical history, and assistance generating a "heartfelt" letter to a judge ahead of a criminal sentencing.
Astonishingly, the app also records and uploads voice queries, no matter the length. We found one recording that went on for over an hour, where the conversation drifted from Candace Owens' take on Black Lives Matter to whether or not anyone was actively "trying to kill George Soros" to asking for detailed directions based on the user's current location.
Another spent several minutes detailing their tax woes.
"What do I do if I made about two hundred thousand last year and I forgot to file taxes," they asked.
"If you owe taxes, the IRS will likely send you a notice with the amount due," the chatbot suggests.
"Well I'll just wait till [sic] they call me I guess," the user sighs.
Other conversations drifted into topics better left for the incognito tab.
On one hand, the whole thing reveals the staggering amount of faith people already have in these brand new products — and the extent to which they've quickly become a crutch for many. One user, for example, asked it "what to say to congratulate my niece who graduates from UCLA."
At the same time, it also underscores the mammoth responsibility Meta has as the provider of a de facto public service — and the horrifying lack of accountability the company has consistently shown throughout its lifespan.
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