You might be noticing that ads on Instagram and Facebook are getting more personal, and that’s because they probably are.
Meta updated its privacy policy last month, adding that data it collects from user interactions with its AI services will now be used for targeted ads across the company’s social media platforms.
Previously, the social media giant’s privacy policy already said it collected information from interactions with its AI technology, including conversations and related metadata. In the updated policy, Meta clarifies that this includes “Prompts that can include questions, messages, media and other information you or others share with or send to AI at Meta.”
“AI at Meta” is the umbrella term the company uses for its AI products, including the Meta AI chatbot integrated into Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, as well as other AI tools like Vibes and AI features on Ray-Ban smart glasses. The new policy also adds that interactions with AI at Meta may be used to personalize ads.
Meta first alerted users to the changes in October via a press release.
“Whether it’s a voice chat or a text exchange with our AI features, this update will help us improve the recommendations we provide for people across our platforms so they’re more likely to see content they’re actually interested in — and less of the content they’re not,” the press release reads.
The company provided an example in which a user chatting with Meta AI about hiking could later start seeing ads for hiking boots.
Meta said at the time that it would notify users about the changes through in-product notifications and emails several weeks before the policy went into effect.
However, the update didn’t take long to draw backlash.
At the end of October, a coalition of 36 privacy, consumer protection, and civil rights groups sent a letter urging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate the policy and its potential consumer and privacy implications.
“The Commission should recognize that Meta’s decision to monetize AI-driven chatbots without even a basic opt-out mechanism reflects the company’s broader strategy: an aggressive expansion of AI for marketing and advertising,” the groups wrote in the letter.
The letter goes on to say that the new policy is “part of a deliberate strategy to normalize a fundamental expansion of surveillance-driven and behavior-changing marketing.” According to Meta, more than 1 billion people use Meta AI every month alone.
The groups specifically called on the FTC to use its authority under the agency’s 2019 consent decree with Meta, as well as Section 5 of the FTC Act, which prohibits unfair or deceptive business practices, to probe the program and suspend the advertising practice.
Whether the FTC will act remains an open question. The Trump administration has so far taken a pro-AI stance. President Donald Trump even signed an executive order this past December attempting to limit state regulations on AI.
Meta and the FTC did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment.
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