Meta has made available in Australia an online form through which users can object to their public data being used to train the company's AI systems, ABC News reported. The company made no public announcement when the form was added for Australian users and no reports exist of users being notified directly.
The form had already been available to users in the EU since 2024, a year before it was made available in Australia. Meta has not disclosed its reasons for making the objection form available in Australia.
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner has been assessing Meta's AI training practices since the company's data use was first disclosed. The OAIC previously issued public guidance stating that data being publicly available does not automatically mean it can lawfully be used to train AI models.
Meta's AI training drew on Australian users' Facebook activity including photos, posts and comments, with material dating as far back as 2007. Private accounts, private messages and accounts registered as belonging to under-18 users are excluded from the company's data collection. After a user submits the objection form, Meta sends an email confirming their public data will not be used for AI training going forward.
Tom Sulston from Digital Rights Watch said users must search through Meta's privacy policies and support pages to find the opt-out option. He said many people who would want to use it will not discover it exists, attributing this to Meta's commercial interest in collecting as much user data as possible.
While having the ability to opt out is positive, he said, the lack of notification means users have not been given a real choice. Information about the form has been spreading through user-generated posts rather than any official Meta communication.
Australians with public Facebook or Instagram accounts whose data is being used to train Meta's AI can submit the objection form to prevent future use of their public data for that purpose, but must locate the form themselves within Meta's privacy settings.
Official statements: Prime Minister of Australia
Reporting: ABC News, The Conversation, CNBC, CNA
Background: ABC News, Yahoo Finance
Written by Pick & Scroll News from the reporting and documents linked above.
