Facebook has acknowledged that it scrapes public photos, posts, and other data from Australian adult users to train its AI models, without offering an opt-out option, unlike its policy in the European Union, where users can refuse consent.
Meta’s global privacy director, Melinda Claybaugh, initially denied claims that the company was using data from all Australians to develop its generative AI tools.
When Labor senator Tony Sheldon inquired whether Meta had used Australian posts dating back to 2007 for its AI products, Claybaugh responded, “we have not done that.” This response was quickly contested by Greens senator David Shoebridge.
Shoebridge: “The truth of the matter is that unless you have consciously set those posts to private since 2007, Meta has just decided that you will scrape all of the photos and all of the texts from every public post on Instagram or Facebook since 2007, unless there was a conscious decision to set them on private. That’s the reality, isn’t it?
Claybaugh: “Correct.”
Ms. Claybaugh stated that accounts belonging to individuals under 18 were not scraped. However, when Senator Sheldon asked if public photos of his own children on his account would be scraped, she acknowledged that they would be.
The Facebook representative could not confirm whether the company scraped data from users who were under 18 when they created their accounts but are now adults.
In June, Meta informed users in the European Union and the United States that their data would be used to train generative AI products, such as Meta AI, unless they opted out.
The company offered an opt-out option to EU users due to legal uncertainties related to strict privacy laws in those countries. Ms. Claybaugh admitted that such options were not provided to Australian users.
She explained, “In Europe there is an ongoing legal question around the interpretation of existing privacy law with respect to AI training. We have paused launching our AI products in Europe while there is a lack of certainty.
So you are correct that we are offering an opt-out to users in Europe. I will say that the ongoing conversation in Europe is the direct result of the existing regulatory landscape.”
Ms. Claybaugh stated that Australian users could set their data to private, but the opt-out options provided to Europeans were in response to local privacy laws.
She explained that Meta required a large amount of data to create the most “flexible and powerful” AI tool, aiming to deliver a safer product with fewer biases.
This development follows a recent pledge by the federal government to introduce a ban on social media for children due to concerns about the harm these platforms may cause.
Senator Shoebridge told the reporters that addressing online harms faced by young people should involve prioritizing privacy laws.
He pointed out, “The reason privacy is protected in Europe but not in Australia is that European lawmakers enacted stringent privacy laws. Meta has made it clear that if Australia had similar laws, Australians’ data would also be safeguarded.”
Shoebridge added, “The government’s inaction on privacy issues allows companies like Meta to continue profiting from and exploiting images and videos of children on Facebook.”
The government is expected to reveal long-awaited updates to the Privacy Act, following a 2020 review that highlighted the outdated nature of current laws. Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus had indicated earlier this year that the legislation would be announced in August.
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