Meta faces lawsuits and privacy concerns over AI and facial recognition data

Meta is facing legal and public scrutiny regarding its use of user data for artificial intelligence and facial recognition. A class-action lawsuit filed in federal court in Chicago alleges that the company illegally used photos from Facebook and Instagram to develop NameTag, an unreleased facial recognition system for smart glasses, and to train generative AI models such as Emu and Muse Image. The plaintiffs, including parents from Illinois and California, claim Meta violated biometric privacy laws by extracting facial data without proper notice or consent.

Separately, concerns regarding AI privacy have surfaced following an incident involving Meta AI’s integration within Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. A user reported that the AI assistant prompted her to identify her own child in a video and subsequently surfaced personal details, including names and ages, by aggregating information from various posts. Meta acknowledged the incident, stating the company ‘missed the mark’ and has since implemented fixes to prevent such prompts from appearing.