During a government inquiry on AI adoption in Australia, Meta’s global privacy director Melinda Claybaugh faced questions about the company’s data collection practices for training its generative AI technology. Initially denying the claims, Claybaugh eventually admitted that Meta scrapes all photos and texts from Facebook and Instagram posts dating back to 2007, unless set to private, with no opt-out option for Australians like in the EU. While children under 18 aren’t targeted, their information is collected if posted on their parents’ accounts, raising concerns about data collection once they turn 18. Claybaugh attributed the lack of opt-out in Australia to specific legal frameworks in the EU, leading Meta to withhold its multimodal AI model due to regulatory uncertainties. Despite privacy concerns, the EU allows users to block data collection, prompting Australian Senator David Shoebridge to criticize the government for failing to protect privacy and allowing companies like Meta to exploit user data.
