Brazil orders Meta to stop training its AI on personal data

Brazil orders Meta to stop training its AI on personal data is profiled by BTW Media because published evidence links it to internet infrastructure, governance, operational dependencies, or market visibility.

• Brazilian Data Protection Authority has banned Meta from accessing Brazilian users’ personal data, or Meta will face fines of $8,808 per day.
• Meta sees the ruling as a step backward for Brazil in terms of innovation and competition in AI development.

OUR TAKE
Meta is similarly stymied by European Union regulators, leading the company to suspend plans to train its AI models on Facebook and Instagram posts in Europe. However, Meta’s updated data collection policy is already in effect in the United States, which lacks similar user privacy protections.
–Zora Lin, BTW reporter

What happened

Brazil’s Data Protection Authority (ANPD) bans Meta from training its AI models on Brazilian personal data, citing “the risk of serious damage and the difficulties it creates for users.”

Previously, Meta updates its privacy policy in May to allow itself to use public Facebook, Messenger and Instagram data from Brazil, including posts, images and captions, for AI training.

The decision follows a report released last month by Human Rights Watch, which find that LAION-5B – one of the largest data sets of image captions used to train AI models – contains personal, identifiable photos of Brazilian children, putting them at risk of deep forgery and other exploitation.

According to ANPD, there are 102 million Brazilian users on Facebook alone. The notice issued by the agency on Tuesday gives Meta five business days to comply with the order or face a fine of $8,808 per day.

Meta says in a statement that its updated policy “complies with Brazil’s privacy laws and regulations” and that the ruling is “a step backward in terms of innovation and competition in AI development and further delays the benefits of AI to the Brazilian people.”

Also read: EU accuses Meta of violating digital competition rules

Also read: Meta halts AI rollout in Europe amid privacy concerns

Why it’s important

The ANPD’s decision was based on a report by Human Rights Watch, which noted that the dataset used to train the AI model contained personal photos of Brazilian children, highlighting issues of ethical responsibility and legal compliance in AI and data use, especially when it comes to the protection of children’s data and personal identities.

Meta said its updated privacy policy complies with Brazilian laws and regulations, while also emphasizing the importance of AI development and competition. However, the ANPD’s decision demonstrates the complex balance between technological innovation and data privacy protection.

Meta has previously been criticized in the European Union, and these incidents highlight the huge challenges that technology companies face in balancing technological innovation and personal privacy protection in the era of artificial intelligence and big data. Encourage States and international organizations to strengthen the development and enforcement of data protection and privacy regulations to ensure that the rights and interests of the public are effectively protected.