Meta has confirmed that it will reinstate its plans to use personal data, from UK Facebook and Instagram users, to train its AI technology. Meta will use the “legitimate interests” ground as a legal basis, to take information from accounts from people over the age of 18 years. Meta said that it had “engaged positively with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)” to address regulatory feedback following a pause to their plans earlier this year. 

In response to this the ICO released a statement, on Friday 13 September, making it clear that organisations using user data to train AI models need to be “transparent about how people’s data is being used”. The ICO reinforced that companies must have in place “effective safeguards” before using personal information to train models, and a “clear and simple route” for users to “object to the processing”. 

Further, the ICO clarified that they will not be providing “regulatory approval” for the plan and instead will keep a close eye on Meta’s practices to ensure they “demonstrate ongoing compliance”. This will include early monitoring “as Meta moves to inform UK users and commence processing in the coming weeks”.