Meta’s AI can now access users’ private Messenger conversations, sparking concern from experts and prompting warnings from data protection authorities. This function, which includes messages in AI training when Meta AI is mentioned, allows for AI to create summaries of conversations or provide suggestions within group chats.

A conversation stretching back fifteen years could potentially be shared with Meta AI if a user or their friend requests a summary from the AI. Users can manually disable this feature for each Messenger conversation.

The Danish Data Protection Authority acknowledges the change but defers assessment of its legality to the Irish Data Protection Authority, as Meta’s European headquarters are located in Ireland. The IT security specialist at the Data Protection Authority, Allan Frank, urges consumers to be more mindful of who they share their information with, emphasizing that tech companies have been harvesting user data for two decades.

Frank notes that AI has significantly accelerated this process, likening it to moving from a “snail’s pace” to an “express train.” He cautions that society is “one click away from a data-logical dictatorship on steroids.”

While criticisms of big tech companies exploiting user data are frequent, many people continue to use platforms like Messenger and Facebook. Frank notes that users’ information is capitalized and can be misused, and that people are not concerned enough to seek for alternative platforms. He also highlights that users agree to the terms when using these platforms, making it difficult to avoid data collection.

Jan Trzaskowski, Professor of Law at Aalborg University, suggests that sharing messages with Meta AI without explicit consent may violate data protection and privacy laws. He argues that the intrusiveness of the feature could render it illegal even with consent.

Meta, in a written statement, claims that sharing messages with Meta AI is an “optional function” that can be disabled. They assert that Meta AI is not trained on private conversations unless users choose to share them.