Meta has announced a major update to its privacy policy that will allow the company to use conversations with its generative AI tools to personalize ads and content across its platforms. It comes as no surprise since Meta’s ad business makes a significant amount of revenue.
The change takes effect on December 16 and will apply to users on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
How the Policy Will Work
According to Meta, any interaction with its AI, whether through text or voice, can be used to “improve the recommendations we provide for people across our platforms so they’re more likely to see content they’re actually interested in.”
For example, if a user discusses hiking with Meta AI, they may later see recommendations for hiking groups, posts about trails, or ads for hiking gear.
No Option to Opt Out
Meta says it will begin notifying users about the new policy on October 7. There will be no way to opt out of this data use, though users will still have the ability to adjust their ad and content preferences as they already can.
Certain sensitive topics are excluded from ad targeting. Conversations about religious beliefs, sexual orientation, political views, health, racial or ethnic background, philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership will not be used to generate ads. However, discussions outside of those categories will be included.
Meta reported that over one billion people interact with Meta AI each month. That means the policy change could directly affect roughly one in eight people worldwide.