The advocacy group NOYB has called on data protection authorities in many European nations, including Belgium, France, and Germany, to address concerns with Meta’s data practices. In response, Meta has announced a delay in the deployment of its AI models in Europe.
According to reports, Mark Zuckerberg’s well-known social network business Meta has decided not to release its AI models in the European market just yet. Following a directive from the Irish privacy authority to postpone its plan to collect user data from Facebook and Instagram, the decision was taken.
The American social media giant has acknowledged that the action taken by Meta was prompted by complaints and a request for action from advocacy group NOYB to data protection authorities in Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Ireland, Austria, and Germany.
The intention by Meta to train its artificial intelligence (AI) models on personal data without obtaining authorization is in question. Meta stated that it will use material that is licensed and publicly available online.
Meta went on to say that it has been advised to postpone training its large language models (LLMs) utilizing shared public content from adult Facebook and Instagram users by an Irish privacy monitor.
In a revised article on its website, the company stated, “We’re disappointed by the request from the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), our lead regulator, on behalf of the European DPAs … particularly since we incorporated regulatory feedback and the European DPAs have been informed since March.”
It claimed that the Irish request represents a reversal of course for European competition and innovation in AI development.
Meta stated, “To put it plainly, we could only provide a mediocre experience to customers if we didn’t include local information. This indicates that we are currently unable to introduce Meta AI in Europe.”
The DPC praised Meta’s delay, stating that it was the result of extensive consultation with the regulator.
According to Meta, the postponed release of its AI models will also enable it to respond to inquiries from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in the United Kingdom.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) praised Meta’s move and declared that it will keep an eye on big generative AI firms, like Meta, to evaluate the security measures they’ve put in place and make sure UK consumers’ rights to their privacy are respected.
Max Schrems, the chair of NOYB, linked Meta’s brief suspension to the organization’s grievances submitted the previous week.
“As of right now, there hasn’t been a formal modification to the Meta privacy policy that would bind this pledge. In a statement, he said, “The cases we filed are continuing and will require a determination.
