The German consumer protection group calls on Meta to put its AI training in the EU – will other countries follow this example?
- Advertisement -
Related Posts
- Advertisement -
- A German consumer protection group calls on Meta to put its AI training plans in the EU
- All public messages and user interactions are set to feed Meta AI from 27 May 2025
- Meta claims that the AI training meets EU legislation, but proponents of privacy still doubt his legality under GDPR
A German Consumer Protection Group calls on Meta to stop its plan to train its AI models with data from EU users.
On 30 April 2025, the Verbraucherzentrale North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) sent a cease and design of the Big Tech Giant to demand that Facebook and Instagram stop their AI training plans. The group also threatens further legal steps such as Meta decides not to satisfy.
“It is absolutely necessary to act quickly, because as soon as data is included in AI, it is difficult to pick it up” official announcement.
All public messages and the interactions of users are set at Feed Meta AI From 27 May 2025. If they don’t want this to happen, EU users must actively unsubscribe.
An illegal approach?
Meta, the parent company that owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, successfully launched Meta AI in the EU in March, almost a year after the company underwent the launch in the midst of growing Care among EU data controllers.
In official announcementThe company ensures that its approach meets European laws and regulations. “We welcome the opinion of the EDPB in December, which confirmed that our original approach met our legal obligations,” Meta wrote.
In particular the EDPB Opinion Offers a guide to help the Irish Data Protection Authority (DPA) to assess the use of legitimate interest as a legal basis for AI models.
However, German consumer experts now claim that a reference to legitimate interest is insufficient for Meta AI. They also point out how users should not accept that the personal information they have shared over the years Meta can now be used for AI training.
“Furthermore, It cannot be excluded that particularly sensitive information, which is mainly protected under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), is also used for AI training purposes, “said Steffen.” In that case, a so-called opt-out-as offered by Meta-Niet is sufficient; The affected should actively agree. “
#Meta skips permission, #GDPR violates EU data AI training. 📊🚫 #dataprotectionmatters #makeprivacyracy pic.twitter.com/nywzqoxtylApril 18, 2025
The Austrian Privacy Advocacy Group Noyb (none of your cases) also believes that Meta AI may not comply with the GDPR laws.
“Meta deliberately tries to ignore European legislation and places its commercial interests above the fundamental right to data protection of the rights affected” official announcementSharing his total support with the actions of Verbraucherzentrale NRW.
“Meta should just ask the affected people for their permission. But if Meta ignores EU legislation, there will be consequences for the whole of Europe,” Schrems added.
Now that the Meta AI is officially started in about two weeks, we may see more actions from other European consumer groups, privacy authorities or the DPA itself.
In the meantime, privacy experts such as Proton, the provider behind one of the Best VPN And encrypted e -mail -apps, in people in Europe to choose their privacy to unsubscribe from Meta AI training. “It is difficult to predict what this data can be used for in the future – better to be safe than sorry,” Proton wrote on one LinkedIn post.
If you are in the EU, you have until 27 May to prevent Facebook and Instagram from using one of your data to train their AI models. To do this, you must log in to your account and fill in an objection form (A Form for Facebook And one For Instagram). A reason to object is not required.
Maybe you like it too
- Advertisement -
