Latest news with #Schrems
Time of India
15-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Meta faces row over plan to use European data for AI
A Vienna-based privacy campaign group said Wednesday it has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Meta, after the tech giant announced plans to train its artificial intelligence models with European users' personal move comes after Meta said last month it would push ahead with plans to use personal data from European users of its Instagram and Facebook platforms for AI technology training from May 27, despite criticism over its legality. Meta has been hit with multiple privacy complaints in Europe, but cited a "legitimate interest" to process personal data for AI training. The privacy group, the European Center for Digital Rights -- also known as Noyb ("None of Your Business") -- threatened to file an injunction or class-action lawsuit against Meta if it does not halt plans. "Meta's absurd claims that stealing everyone's (personal) data is necessary for AI training is laughable," Noyb founder Max Schrems said in a statement. "Other AI providers do not use social network data -- and generate even better models than Meta," he added. When Meta AI first launched in the European Union in late March, the tech giant was at pains to point out that the chatbot was not trained on data from European users. Its rollout on the continent was delayed by more than a year as a result of overlapping European regulations on emerging technologies, including user data, AI and digital markets. Following the complaints, Meta temporarily put its AI plans on hold in June 2024, before recently announcing it would go ahead with them. "It is... totally absurd to argue that Meta needs the personal data of everyone that uses Facebook or Instagram in the past 20 years to train AI," Schrems said, adding the plans were "neither legal nor necessary". "Meta simply says that (its) interest in making money is more important than the rights of its users," he said, adding that users could simply be asked for their consent. With about 400 million estimated Meta users in Europe, the approval of 10 percent of them would "already clearly be sufficient" for AI language training and the like, Schrems said. Launched in 2018, Noyb has taken several court proceedings against technology giants, often prompting action from regulatory authorities.
Forbes
15-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Meta Accused Of Still Flouting Privacy Rules With AI Training Data
Meta's efforts to placate Europe over the use of personal data to train AI models hasn't worked, with privacy advocacy group noyb launching another challenge. After pausing AI training in the EE and European Economic Area last June, Meta last month announced plans to resume, using public posts and comments shared by adults and users' interactions with Meta AI. It had paused the training after concerns were expressed by the Irish Data Protection Commission and complaints filed with data protection authorities across the region. At the end of the year, the European Data Protection Board issued an opinion which, said Meta, meant it was complying with the law. "Last year, we delayed training our large language models using public content while regulators clarified legal requirements", the company said. "We welcome the opinion provided by the EDPB in December, which affirmed that our original approach met our legal obligations." However, nyob begs to disagree. "As far as we have heard, Meta has 'engaged' with the authorities, but this hasn't led to any 'green light'," said nyob chair Max Schrems. "It seems that Meta is simply moving ahead and ignores EU Data Protection Authorities." Nyob has now sent the firm a cease and desist letter, threatening a European class action as a next step. The company's claim that 'legitimate interest' allows it to use user data without explicit opt-in consent doesn't hold water, it said. "The European Court of Justice has already held that Meta cannot claim a 'legitimate interest' in targeting users with advertising. How should it have a 'legitimate interest' to suck up all data for AI training?" said Schrems. "While the 'legitimate interest' assessment is always a multi-factor test, all factors seem to point in the wrong direction for Meta. Meta simply says that its interest in making money is more important than the rights of its users." Nyob also claims that Meta may also be unable to comply with other GDPR rights such as the right to be forgotten, the right to have incorrect data rectified or users' rights to access to their data in an AI system. On top of this, it says, because Meta provides AI model as open-source software for anyone to download and use, it can't recall or update a model once it's published. Noyb compares Meta's practices over data collection for AI with its collection of user data to serve advertisements. On this, after a series of GDPR lawsuits, the company finally agreed in 2023 to give up on the legitimate interests argument, and require specific opt-in instead. "This fight is essentially about whether to ask people for consent or simply take their data without it. Meta starts a huge fight just to have an opt-out system instead of an opt-in system. Instead, they rely on an alleged 'legitimate interest' to just take the data and run with it," said Schrems. "This is neither legal nor necessary. Meta's absurd claims that stealing everyone's person data is necessary for AI training is laughable. Other AI providers do not use social network data—and generate even better models than Meta." Meta has been approached for comment.
The Star
15-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
Meta faces row over plan to use European data for AI
A filepic of Schrems. He said in a statement that 'Meta's absurd claims that stealing everyone's (personal) data is necessary for AI training is laughable'. — Reuters VIENNA: A Vienna-based privacy campaign group said on May 14 it has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Meta, after the tech giant announced plans to train its artificial intelligence models with European users' personal data. The move comes after Meta said last month it would push ahead with plans to use personal data from European users of its Instagram and Facebook platforms for AI technology training from May 27, despite criticism over its legality. Meta has been hit with multiple privacy complaints in Europe, but cited a "legitimate interest" to process personal data for AI training. The privacy group, the European Center for Digital Rights – also known as Noyb ("None of Your Business") – threatened to file an injunction or class-action lawsuit against Meta if it does not halt plans. "Meta's absurd claims that stealing everyone's (personal) data is necessary for AI training is laughable," Noyb founder Max Schrems said in a statement. "Other AI providers do not use social network data – and generate even better models than Meta," he added. When Meta AI first launched in the European Union in late March, the tech giant was at pains to point out that the chatbot was not trained on data from European users. Its rollout on the continent was delayed by more than a year as a result of overlapping European regulations on emerging technologies, including user data, AI and digital markets. Following the complaints, Meta temporarily put its AI plans on hold in June 2024, before recently announcing it would go ahead with them. "It is... totally absurd to argue that Meta needs the personal data of everyone that uses Facebook or Instagram in the past 20 years to train AI," Schrems said, adding the plans were "neither legal nor necessary". "Meta simply says that (its) interest in making money is more important than the rights of its users," he said, adding that users could simply be asked for their consent. With about 400 million estimated Meta users in Europe, the approval of 10 percent of them would "already clearly be sufficient" for AI language training and the like, Schrems said. Launched in 2018, Noyb has taken several court proceedings against technology giants, often prompting action from regulatory authorities. – AFP
The Hindu
15-05-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Meta threatened with injunction over data-use for AI training
Austrian advocacy group NOYB will seek an injunction against Meta Platforms, it said on Wednesday, that could lead to substantial claims if the tech giant goes ahead with plans to use Europeans' personal data to train its AI models. NOYB, or none of your business, led by privacy activist Max Schrems, said it had sent a cease and desist letter on Wednesday to Meta, which plans to start using personal data from European users of Instagram and Facebook from May 27. Meta has cited legitimate interest under EU privacy rules for using users' data to train and develop its generative AI models and other AI tools that can be shared with third parties. The U.S. tech giant said last month users would receive a link to a form that allows them to object to their data being used for training purposes and that private messages and public data from accounts of users under the age of 18 will not be used. Schrems criticised Meta's rationale. "The European Court of Justice has already held that Meta cannot claim a 'legitimate interest' in targeting users with advertising. How should it have a 'legitimate interest' to suck up all data for AI training?" he said in a statement. "We are currently evaluating our options to file injunctions, but there is also the option for a subsequent class action for non-material damages. If you think about the more than 400 million European Meta users who could all demand damages of just 500 euros or so, you can do the math," Schrems said. NOYB said an injunction could be filed under the EU Collective Redress, which enables consumers to pursue collective lawsuits against companies in the bloc. It set a May 21 deadline for Meta to respond. Meta rejected NOYB's arguments, saying its approach complies with guidance from the European Data Protection Board and follows discussions with the Irish privacy enforcer. "NOYB's arguments are wrong on the facts and the law," a Meta spokesperson said. "We've provided EU users with a clear way to object to their data being used for training AI at Meta, notifying them via email and in-app notifications that they can object at any time." NOYB, which last year urged EU privacy enforcers to act, said Meta could give users an option to opt-in rather than opt-out and also provide clear conditions for AI training, such as using anonymised user data, in line with EU privacy rules.
Indian Express
14-05-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Advocacy group threatens Meta with injunction over data-use for AI training
Austrian advocacy group NOYB will seek an injunction against Meta Platforms, it said on Wednesday, that could lead to substantial claims if the tech giant goes ahead with plans to use Europeans' personal data to train its AI models. NOYB, or none of your business, led by privacy activist Max Schrems, said it had sent a cease and desist letter on Wednesday to Meta, which plans to start using personal data from European users of Instagram and Facebook from May 27. Meta has cited legitimate interest under EU privacy rules for using users' data to train and develop its generative AI models and other AI tools that can be shared with third parties. The U.S. tech giant said last month users would receive a link to a form that allows them to object to their data being used for training purposes and that private messages and public data from accounts of users under the age of 18 will not be used. Schrems criticised Meta's rationale. 'The European Court of Justice has already held that Meta cannot claim a 'legitimate interest' in targeting users with advertising. How should it have a 'legitimate interest' to suck up all data for AI training?' he said in a statement. 'We are currently evaluating our options to file injunctions, but there is also the option for a subsequent class action for non-material damages. If you think about the more than 400 million European Meta users who could all demand damages of just 500 euros or so, you can do the math,' Schrems said. NOYB said an injunction could be filed under the EU Collective Redress, which enables consumers to pursue collective lawsuits against companies in the bloc. It set a May 21 deadline for Meta to respond. Meta rejected NOYB's arguments, saying its approach complies with guidance from the European Data Protection Board and follows discussions with the Irish privacy enforcer. 'NOYB's arguments are wrong on the facts and the law,' a Meta spokesperson said. 'We've provided EU users with a clear way to object to their data being used for training AI at Meta, notifying them via email and in-app notifications that they can object at any time.' NOYB, which last year urged EU privacy enforcers to act, said Meta could give users an option to opt-in rather than opt-out and also provide clear conditions for AI training, such as using anonymised user data, in line with EU privacy rules.
