The “Goodbye Meta AI” message, which purports to protect the user from having the likes of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp use their accounts as an AI training camp, has become an increasingly common feature on timelines. It has been shared by actors and sports stars – including James McAvoy, Ashley Tisdale and Tom Brady – as well as hundreds of thousands of others.
But why – and what effect, if any, will it have?
Why are people posting this?
Meta, the parent company of the three platforms, has announced it will go ahead with controversial plans to use millions of UK Facebook and Instagram posts to train its artificial intelligence (AI) technology, a practice that falls foul of EU privacy laws.
The Information Commissioner’s Office said last week it will monitor the experiment after changes agreed with Meta, including making it easier for users to opt out. Privacy campaigners have accused Meta of “turning all of us into involuntary (and unpaid) test subjects for their experiments”.
Many users, evidently, are equally unhappy, and appear to be posting the message in the belief it will assert their right to opt out.
Will it?
In a word: no.
Meta has said sharing the story does not count as a valid form of objection – just as previous tranches of legalese periodically shared by users in recent years have provided them none of the copyright or privacy protection they hoped they would.
In 2012, the factchecking website Snopes reported on a series of posts appearing online that sought to assert the user’s privacy rights in respect of Instagram content. The whole thing was, the site reported, an “expression of the mistaken belief the use of some simple legal talisman – knowing enough to ask the right question or post a pertinent disclaimer – will immunise one from some undesirable legal consequence. The law just doesn’t work that way.”
Where does it come from?
According to the Meta-aligned factchecking site Lead Stories, the latest iteration came from a hoax status posted on 1 September. Its text had some differences, but followed a similar pattern:
Goodbye Meta AI ! You’re told to stay out of my personal info ’n pictures, and any private info of mine. A lawyer has advised all of us to post this or there might be legal consequences. As Meta is now a public entity, all members must post a similar statement. If you don’t post this at least once it’s assumed you’re allowing the use of your personal information and photos. I do not give you permission to use any of my data or photos.
More broadly, Snopes reports, this genre of post can be traced back as far as the early 2000s, when some websites began citing “code 431.322.12 of the Internet Privacy Act”. Their owners apparently believed they could immunise themselves from the legal consequences of their online actions by invoking a fictitious law.
Does all of this apply to me?
Meta has already said it will be using publicly available content from users in the UK to train its generative AI – albeit not private posts.
So, if that refers to you, then yes.
So, what will work?
Meta has said it will honour all objection forms filled out by users. The company has indicated all adults using Facebook and Instagram based in the UK will receive a notification linking to such a form in the next few days.