Facebook is reportedly encouraging users to upload private media from their camera rolls to Meta’s cloud servers. According to a recent report, a pop-up message appears when users attempt to post photos or videos to their Stories, requesting access to their media. This initiative aims to leverage Meta AI to offer users suggestions for collages and AI-enhanced edits for their stories. However, the move also raises concerns as it enables the company to analyze facial features and identify objects and individuals present in these media files.
A TechCrunch report revealed that a new pop-up requesting access is being noticed by some users while posting Stories on the Facebook app. An image of the message shared by the publication indicates that Meta seeks permission to access the media saved on users’ devices to generate suggestions for AI-driven collages, event-focused posts, and restyling options based on personal themes like birthdays and anniversaries.
In order for Meta to provide these tailored suggestions, users must grant access to their unpublished images and videos. The pop-up states, “To create ideas for you, we’ll select media from your camera roll and upload it to our cloud on an ongoing basis, based on info like time, location, or themes.”
To alleviate potential privacy concerns, Meta assures users that the suggestions will be visible only to them and will not be utilized for targeted advertising. Nevertheless, agreeing to this request means users accept Meta’s AI terms, which indicate that “Media and facial features can be analyzed by Meta AI.” Furthermore, the AI systems will collect data regarding the date and detect the presence of people or objects within the media.
Ryan Daniels, Meta’s public affairs manager, informed Technology News that the company does not plan to train its AI models using the unpublished media. Meanwhile, Maria Cubeta, Meta’s communications manager, stated that participation in this feature is entirely optional, emphasizing that “These suggestions are opt-in only and only shown to you – unless you decide to share them – and can be turned off at any time. Camera roll media may be used to improve these suggestions, but are not used to improve AI models in this test.”
The report further indicated that although the opt-in feature limits Meta’s access to media files from the last 30 days, the suggestions generated based on themes like pets or weddings may include older media files.
While Meta appears to have addressed several privacy concerns users might have, the wording in its communications suggests that the commitment to not train AI models on users’ camera rolls may solely pertain to this particular “test.” The implications of a potential future change in policy remain unclear, as Meta has not definitively stated that it will never use such data to enhance its AI models.
