Ritika Janiya
Perhaps you have ever wondered how your social media posts end up on the cover of magazines, or what actually happens with your information? Well, it turns out companies use your content to train and improve artificial intelligence (AI) even without asking. Let’s drill in a bit on how that works and how you might be able to protect your online privacy.
The Hungry AI Machine
Companies are in a running fight in today’s tech world to develop the coolest and smartest AI tools, be it chatbots who can carry on a conversation, a smart email writer to help you craft that perfect message, and so many more. But these AI systems need lots of information to learn and get better, and this is precisely where your social media posts fit in.
Every time you post a picture, compose a status, or comment on a post, you’re generating data. Corporations can scrape this information-generally with or without your knowledge or consent-to train their artificial intelligence systems. That’s called “scraping,” and it has become a huge issue as demand for AI technology grows.
Did You Opt In?
You might think, “I never agreed to this! ” and you’re right! Many companies preload your information automatically. That’s what means you mightn’t even know that your posts are being used. Recently, more than 300,000 Instagram users began posting messages saying they don’t allow Meta-the parent company of Instagram and Facebook-to use their data. But guess what? Just posting this message won’t actually stop Meta from using your information.
It’s like shouting into the wind!
FTC Report
The Federal Trade Commission analyzed how big platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube, and Amazon deal with user data. And man, the results were really surprising! Most of these platforms extract personal information from users and employ them in automatic systems without explaining that to people or providing them with an easy way to say no.
The FTc also reports that there is a lack of access and transparency in how the companies are using AI. It also underscored the fact that the users do not have control enough over their data. Really sad when you really want your private things to be private.
How to opt out: What can you do?
While all these companies collect data from you, there are ways through which you can protect yourself. They might not entirely cease from gathering your data; however, you can limit the way they use it. Here’s how you can opt out of having your posts used to train AI:
Check Your Settings Most services in social media have privacy settings. Scroll through them slowly and see where one might find settings to do with data sharing or training AI. Trust me, it’s worth digging into.
Adjust Privacy Settings: Make sure that you limit who can see your posts to private or to friends only. This means fewer people can view the material from your posts, hence lower chances of it being used in some way by companies.
Contact Customer Support: If the link to opt-out is not found, try reaching out to customer support. Ask them if they can offer a way of opting out from using your data to train the AI. Sometimes, being direct can turn out pretty fruitful.
Be Aware of Chatbots: While you may not want companies to use your information, prompts or questions that you give AI chatbots may be saved. Keep sensitive information out of your chats.
The Meta Maze
Meta – the corporate owner of Facebook and Instagram – probably is one of the most intricate platforms to deal with issues of data privacy. As of now, there are no options to opt out for residents of the United States to have their data used to train AI. It is much more important that users know how to preserve information.
The Challenge with Other Platforms
Some, such as YouTube or Reddit, do not clearly give you a way out. As these are public platforms, anything you share can be used by the companies that run them or even by some other AI companies. That’s one more reason to be very careful about what you publish online.
Stay Informed! As far as protecting personal online identity, the best method is education. Stay informed about news articles and blogs concerning data privacy and AI. The more knowledgeable you are, the better you can protect your information.
