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hubie [soylentnews.org] writes:

EU users have less than two weeks to opt out of Meta's AI training [arstechnica.com]:

Privacy watchdog Noyb sent a cease-and-desist letter to Meta Wednesday, threatening to pursue a potentially billion-dollar class action to block Meta's AI training, which starts soon in the European Union.

In the letter, Noyb noted that Meta only recently notified EU users on its platforms that they had until May 27 to opt their public posts out of Meta's AI training data sets. According to Noyb, Meta is also requiring users who already opted out of AI training in 2024 to opt out again or forever lose their opportunity to keep their data out of Meta's models, as training data likely cannot be easily deleted. That's a seeming violation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Noyb alleged.

"Meta informed data subjects that, despite that fact that an objection to AI training under Article 21(2) GDPR was accepted in 2024, their personal data will be processed unless they object again—against its former promises, which further undermines any legitimate trust in Meta's organizational ability to properly execute the necessary steps when data subjects exercise their rights," Noyb's letter said.

[...] The letter accused Meta of further deceptions, like planning to seize data that users may not consider "public," like disappearing stories typically only viewed by small audiences. That, Noyb said, differs significantly from AI crawlers scraping information posted on a public website.

According to Noyb, there would be no issue with Meta's AI training in the EU if Meta would use a consent-based model rather than requiring rushed opt-outs. As Meta explained in a blog following a threatened preliminary injunction on AI training in Germany, the company plans to collect AI training data using a "legitimate interest" legal basis, which supposedly "follows the clear guidelines of the European Data Protection Committee of December 2024, which reflect the consensus between EU data protection authorities."

But Noyb Chairman Max Schrems doesn't believe that Meta has a legitimate interest in sweeping data collection for AI training.

"The European Court of Justice has already held that Meta cannot claim a 'legitimate interest' in targeting users with advertising," Schrems said in a press release. "How should it have a 'legitimate interest' to suck up all data for AI training? 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."

In a statement, Meta's spokesperson defended the opt-out approach, noting that "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."

The spokesperson criticized "Noyb's copycat actions" as "part of an attempt by a vocal minority of activist groups to delay AI innovation in the EU, which is ultimately harming consumers and businesses who could benefit from these cutting-edge technologies."

[...] Meta argued that its AI training efforts in the EU are far more transparent than efforts from competitors Google and OpenAI, which, Meta noted, "have already used data from European users to train their AI models," supposedly without taking the steps Meta has to inform users.

Also echoing a common refrain in the AI industry, another Meta blog warned that efforts to further delay Meta's AI training in the EU could lead to "major setbacks," pushing the EU behind rivals in the AI race.

"Without a reform and simplification of the European regulatory system, Europe threatens to fall further and further behind in the global AI race and lose ground compared to the USA and China," Meta warned.

[...] "This fight is essentially about whether to ask people for consent or simply take their data without it," Schrems said, adding, "Meta's absurd claims that stealing everyone's personal data is necessary for AI training is laughable. Other AI providers do not use social network data—and generate even better models than Meta."

Original Submission