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20.10.2025 07:41

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Meta AI will scan unpublished phone photos

Meta AI will scan unpublished phone photos

Meta has rolled out an optional AI (Artificial Intelligence) feature for Facebook users in the US and Canada that is supposed to make users' photos and videos more shareable. The feature is not intended for photos and videos that users have already uploaded to Facebook, but for those stored in the gallery on their phone, which is of course a major invasion of user privacy. European regulations prohibit this, so European users did not get this feature. If they introduce something similar in European markets, they will have to change the feature significantly.

The new feature is this: if the user opts in, Meta AI will scan their entire gallery, upload unpublished photos to Meta's cloud, and find "hidden gems" lost among screenshots and various albums. The AI will then suggest edited photos and collages that you can save or share.

The main issue is what happens to personal photos once they are uploaded to Meta's cloud. Meta states: "We do not use media from your gallery to improve Meta's UI unless you choose to edit it with our UI tools or share it."

A Meta spokesperson explained that media uploaded for suggestion purposes is indeed stored in the cloud and analyzed by AI. However, the company will not use it to train its models unless the user takes an additional action: using the AI editing tools or posting the final result to Facebook.

While Meta assures that uploaded media will not be used for targeted ads, it should be noted that media is stored in Meta's cloud for a long time, and the company has previously confirmed that it has trained its UI models on all public photos and text posted on Facebook and Instagram since 2007. When using the new feature, users are asked to allow "cloud processing to generate creative ideas from the gallery," although it is unclear whether this notice also includes a warning about potential AI training.


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