Dutch Data Protection Authority: ‘Citizens now have the choice to say no to Meta’

It could have passed silently. Anyone who had not said ‘no’ before 27 May had implicitly said ‘yes’ to the endless use of his or her data by Meta (the parent company of Whatsapp, Facebook and Instagram) to train a new model in artificial intelligence. All photos, reactions, likes and other data that the company has of users – often much more than people themselves – will be led to the new model. That data is then, says Monique Verdier of the Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP), « used forever. »

But citizens have a choice, says Verdier. So the AP called us users of these apps on Thursday to explicitly object if they do not want data to be used. « That is the only way to keep a grip on your data, » she says, « otherwise they will soon be gone. You can no longer get the data used to train the model afterwards. »

Why are you making this call now?

“Meta has brought out some information herself, but he has not achieved many users. We are there to protect burgers, so we have made this call. People must be aware that what they have put on Facebook and Instagram can no longer be removed from the AI ​​model. So this is the time to keep it on your data. are also used by the model once those children can no longer object to it. ”

What exactly does Meta want to do with that data? Do you get clarity about that?

« They are going to train ai, but how do I not know. Due to European legislation, it is up to the Irish privacy authority to do research because Meta is located there. They are already doing a similar investigation into X, whether it is allowed at all to carry personal data on an AI model without explicit permission.

It is therefore not clear whether Meta can use data without the consent of users?

« That is indeed still unclear. There are two ways to use data: you ask explicit permission or you have a legitimate interest. Meta thinks they have that, Ireland is now considering those considerations. »

But in the meantime, Meta is already starting to enter data on its AI model. Isn’t that strange?

« Some organizations stick to the law very much. They think the interests of people are important. Others don’t think about it. And others abuse the situation. »

What category does Meta belong to?

« I can’t say that. The point is that these companies have a lot of power. »

So do they get away with it?

« They do get fines occasionally. The problem is: once there is such an investigation like what the Irish are doing now, then a huge legal proceedings follows. And then you see that these kinds of organizations have deep pockets and such procedure can take a long time. I would not say that they will get away with it, but if Ireland is only a statement, that is what they are on a statement. Data, but they can do something about it. « 

This implies that people now have a grip on their data at Meta. Is that so?

« You never know for sure. It is also how you deal with it. I also have Instagram myself, but I have everything on private and do not post anything. If you put everything public … And of course there are already several AI systems that have emptied the internet. There are your and my data probably already in it. But you want to prevent worse. »

What guarantees do users do not use their data? How is meta monitoring?

« That is up to the Irish, they will have to investigate that. But as a citizen you cannot check that. You can sometimes go through the settings of your phone. Do everyone have to see everything? Which data do you already share? Do you use siri or not? Which search engine do you use? »

Later she adds: it is good to know that information about you on pages of people who have not objected will end up in the AI ​​model of Meta. « Photos in which you are tagged for example. »

Is the best safety guarantee not to remove your meta account?

« Yes. But then the question is: is everything really deleted? The beauty of the General Data Protection Regulation (AVG) is the right to be forgotten. You can request an organization or website to delete all your data. If you want to get away from Meta, I would first make such a deletion request and then delete your account. Then you have an extra deposit, but you never know for sure.”

There are, Verdier, also beautiful sides of social media. « For example, to keep in touch with people on the other side of the world. But people have to be aware of what they are doing. That consciousness actually gets very slowly going. We hold Meta responsible for what they do, but thought it was necessary to inform citizens: you have a choice. »

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