Data Protection Authority
Meta starts training its artificial intelligence using Europeans’ personal data – those who want to object must act quickly
22nd April 2025
By the end of May 2025, Meta will start training for artificial intelligence, using Facebook and Instagram users’ entries, photos and comments in Europe. This will cover all content that is publicly available on these platforms – both new content and existing content. Users who wish to prevent their data from being used will need to object the processing as soon as possible.
Start of training planned for 2024 postponed due to data protection
The training was scheduled to start in 2024 but this decision was postponed after the Irish Data Protection Authority (IDPC), which supervises Meta in Europe, made comments about the legal basis and lack of transparency. Now Meta has introduced a simpler process that allows users to object to the use of their data.
The process must be contested by the end of May
All European Facebook and Instagram users who have reached the age of 18 will receive notification of this change from Meta and information on how to object to the processing. If no objection is received, the processing process is deemed approved. Those who wish to prevent their data from being used for training AI must formally object before the end of May 2025. Otherwise, their content could already become part of training data that cannot be removed again.
The processing can be objected to in a simple manner through the following links:
Instagram: help.instagram.com/contact/767264225370182
Note that when clicking on the above links, users may, in some cases, be required to log in to Facebook or Instagram with their username and password in order to access the form for objecting to the data processing.
Instructions on how to object: