Only 7% of Meta users agree with AI data grab policy

Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp users have issued a mass rejection of Meta’s strategy of using their personal data to train the tech giant’s AI models, with over a quarter insisting they have not even heard of Meta’s plans and just 7% saying they do not mind their personal information being exploited.

That is the stark conclusion of a new study by Max Schrems-backed privacy organisation NOYB, which commissioned the Gallup Institute to conduct a representative study among 1,000 Meta users in Europe.

Back in April, the company rebooted the AI data grab, nearly 12 months after it was forced to pause the process following mass complaints over customers’ ability to opt out.

It claimed that users would start receiving notifications, via app and email, to explain the data use, including a clear opt-out link for those who did not want their data used in training the firm’s AI. Meta also committed to honouring all the objection forms it had already received.

However, despite the fact that almost two thirds of the survey respondents say that they have heard about Meta’s announcement, that is not due to the company’s own efforts.

In fact, only 40% of Instagram users remember seeing the in-app notification that was hidden in a notification menu. Equally, only 39% of Facebook users remember the email notification that was sent using a subject line that was aimed at people ignoring the email.

The awareness drastically rises with age. Only 21% of respondents aged between 16 and 30 remember Meta informing them, while 48% of people over 60 can remember.

NOYB argues that if 73% of at least 274 million Meta users have heard about the change and 27% haven’t, that means that 68.5 million people have never realised that Meta has started to irreversibly feed their data into an AI system, despite huge public outrage.

Other companies that do not see such broad media coverage would likely even have less options to have people be informed, the group maintains.

There is also a gender difference in the willingness to allow Meta to use personal data for AI training. Of those who said they do not mind Meta using their personal information, 10% are men but only 4% are women.

NOYB data protection lawyer Kleanthi Sardeli said: “There is no evidence that Meta fulfilled the legal criteria of users being informed and them having reasonable expectations that Meta would use years of their social media activity for AI training.”

The organisation has already sent Meta a cease-and-desist letter and is currently assessing a potential class action.

Schrems concluded: “Meta probably knows that no-one wants to provide the data from their social media accounts just so that Meta gets a competitive advantage over other AI companies that do not have access to such data.

“Instead of asking for consent and get ‘no’ as an answer, they just decided that their right to profits overrides the privacy rights of at least 274 million EU users.”