JAKARTA The Austrian advocacy group, NOYB, has threatened to file a lawsuit against Meta Platforms (Facebook and Instagram contacts) if the US technology company continues its plans to use users' personal data in Europe to train artificial intelligence (AI) models.
NOYB, abbreviation for "none of your business", led by privacy activist Max Schrems, on Wednesday 14 May sent a legal warning letter to Meta. In the letter, they asked Meta to stop planning to use personal data for Instagram and Facebook users in Europe which is scheduled to start May 27.
Meta claims that they have legitimate interests based on EU privacy rules (GDPR) to use user data in training a generative AI model and other AI tools, including those shared with third parties. However, Schrems rejected the pretext.
The European Union Court had previously decided that Meta could not claim legitimate interests to target users with advertisements. How could they now claim it was legitimate to suck up all the data for AI training? " Schrems said, quoted by VOI from Reuters.
Schrems added that it is considering filing a court order (injunction), as well as a possible class action lawsuit to claim non-material compensation. "Imagine if more than 400 million Meta users in Europe each demand compensation of 500 euros. Please count yourself," he said.
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NOYB stated that the lawsuit could be filed under the European Union Collective Lawsuit Regulation, which allows consumers to file a joint lawsuit against the company. They gave Meta a deadline of up to May 21 to provide a response.
Responding to the NOYB threat, Meta said that its approach was in accordance with guidelines from the European Data Protection Board and the results of discussions with the Irish privacy authorities.
NoYB's article is wrong, both fact and law, said a Meta spokesperson. We have given users in the European Union a clear way to reject the use of their data in AI training on Meta, including email notifications and in-app notifications.
Meta confirms that data from private messages and user accounts under the age of 18 will not be used. However, NOYB insists that Meta should use an opt-in system (users must agree first) and only use the data that has beenonymized, in accordance with EU data protection principles.
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