Photos on your phone could be analyzed by Meta AI on Facebook without your knowledge and despite people opting out, the scanning could be toggled on.
Back in June, Meta announced a new feature (via TechCrunch) meant to automatically suggest AI-edited photos such as "personalized creative ideas, like travel highlights and collages" — including ones that you haven't uploaded to Facebook. The tested "cloud processing" tool is supposed to ask you to opt in via a prompt when you attempt to create a new Story on Facebook.
Since it's a test though, not everyone may have received the prompt, but it seems (via ZDNet) that the feature is rolling out to more Facebook accounts. Some people have claimed the prompt never popped up but the feature was switched on.
If you did see the prompt, toggling it on, has you agree to Meta's AI Terms of Service which permits it to analyze "media and facial features."
That analysis uses your images, including dates, people, and objects, to suggest posts like collages, stories and albums. Meta has claimed that the scan won't be used for targeted advertising.
Either way, it's a serious privacy concern whether you've opted-in or not.
How to turn AI scanning off in Facebook
My personal Facebook account, which I have pretty locked down and rarely use, does not appear to have the cloud processing feature enabled. You may not either, but you should know how to turn it off when it does come to your account.
- Open the Facebook app
- You can find the appropriate settings in the Facebook app.
- Go to Menu - Settings and Privacy
- Find the hamburger menu with three stacked lines. Once you've clicked that, find the Gear icon for settings.
- Go to Camera roll sharing suggestions
- This category should be in the Preferences section of the settings menu.
- If you have the new scanning feature you should see two toggles:
- Get camara roll suggestions when you're browsing Facebook and Get creative ideas made for you by allowing camera roll cloud processing.
- If it's on, then the toggle will be blue. Tap it to turn the feature off and it should turn gray.
It's unclear how long Meta's testing is going to take or when the feature will roll out to every Facebook user.
From our understanding, the feature pulls from the last 30 days of images and is only available on the iPhone and Android app versions of Facebook. Meta claims your data is removed from the cloud after 30 days. The company has also said that any AI suggestions are only visible to you.
Still, if you're concerned with data privacy and security, don't let Meta have access in the first place.
More from Tom's Guide
- Meta's new cutting-edge smart glasses tipped to launch in September — here's what we know
- Meta AI chatbots gave false medical advice and flirted with minors — now the company is restructuring its AI division again
- Meta's smartwatch with camera is reportedly being revived — and it could launch this September to work alongside new smart glasses
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