We'd like make you aware that Meta, the operators behind Facebook and Instagram, are making changes to their policy as a result of AI. Cyber Champions, one of our co-members of Oxcyber, have made some resources available to help you understand and make an informed choice on your accounts and your privacy.
How Does AI Learn?
Artificial Intelligence learns by processing extensive volumes of data and identifying patterns. As we’ve all been actively online for decades, there is no shortage of information for it to access.
Now, there has always been the potential that content shared publicly on social media could be used by anyone. However, Meta has announced that from 26 June 2024, it will start to use posts, images, comments and other publicly shared content from their social platforms to train AI. This will apply to any content posted since 2007 by users aged 18+.
We believe that this will be a concern for individuals who have shared:
- Intellectual property, such as a photographer posting images, on social profiles.
- Images of their children or other potentially vulnerable individuals
How to Protect Your Data
Fortunately, UK and EU data privacy and protection laws mean that Meta has to provide covered by GDPR with the option to opt out. Unfortunately, they seem to have made this a complicated process. However, Cyber Champions has provided video instructions on LinkedIn to guide you through the process, you can view the video here.
Of course, there's always the other option (and the only way in which you can be assured that your content will not be used to train AI or shared with third parties): to delete your account. But for most of us that's simply not a workable approach, we need to work with technology, not disengage.
Always Check & Activate Privacy Settings
As a final point, data sharing is not an issue limited to Meta accounts. Therefore, it is always advisable to activate, check and update your privacy settings on any digital accounts or devices that you use.
For business users, we’d like to invite you to view our 10 Steps to Cyber Security.