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Published on
June 11, 2024
9 Min read
EU Meta Privacy Complaints Raise Concerns Over Personal Data Abuse
Vienna-based None of Your Business (NOYB) has sued Meta in 11 European countries. EU Meta privacy complaints relate to its impending privacy policy. Reuters says the data privacy group claims Meta will use personal data to train AI. This will happen under its new privacy policy.
NOYB took action after discovering that Meta plans to use private images, personal posts, and online tracking data collected since 2007 for Meta’s AI tech.
GDPR Violation
NOYB says the Meta undefined AI tech can collect personal data from any source. It can share any information with third parties.
“Meta is basically saying that it can use ‘any data from any source for any purpose and make it available to anyone in the world’, as long as it’s done via ‘AI technology’. This is clearly the opposite of GDPR compliance,” NOYB founder, Max Schrems, said in a statement.
The privacy group also claims that Meta seems to be hiding behind AI to cover up for future violations. The company plans to collect user information without their consent. This goes against the law. Once user data lands in Meta’s system, users may never be able to remove it.
“Meta doesn’t say what it will use the data for, so it could either be a simple chatbot, extremely aggressive personalized advertising or even a killer drone. Meta also says that user data can be made available to any ‘third party’ — which means anyone in the world,” Schrems added.
Meta’s privacy policy changes will take effect on June 26. NOYB wants 11 national privacy watchdogs to act fast and stop Meta’s abuse of personal data.
‘Big Farce’ Claim
Meta has termed NOYB’s claims a farce. The tech giant argues that its interest in using personal data is legitimate. Referring to a blog posted on May 22, Meta says it uses digital and licensed information available publicly to train
But, a quick message to Facebook users. It shows that Meta could still collect data. They could collect it from people who don’t use its services or products. Also, the company can collect data from people who don’t have Facebook accounts. They can do this if the people feature in images or are mentioned in captions, or in posts shared by users.
Meta’s Spokesperson said, “We are confident that our approach complies with privacy laws, and our approach is consistent with how other tech companies are developing and improving their AI experiences in Europe (including Google and Open AI).”
The recent Meta hit EU Compliant has escalated a long-standing feud between Meta and NOYB.
Not the First Time
This is not the first time NOYB has taken on the big tech over with the Meta privacy complaints. Previously, Schrems filed cases that brought down two cross-border data transfer agreements between the EU and the US.
He has been scrutinizing data harvesting activities by Meta. The tech giant has already accumulated 2.5 billion Euros in fines for violating GDPR provisions.
“The European Court of Justice (CJEU) has already made it clear that Meta has no ‘legitimate interest’ to override users’ right to data protection when it comes to advertising,” he said.
He noted that Meta is posing a similar argument in the EU Compliant Undefined AI tech situation. NOYB will be filing Meta privacy complaints in each EU member state.
