Brazil has blocked Meta from using Brazilian Instagram and Facebook posts to train its AI (artificial intelligence) models. Brazil’s national data protection agency (ANPD) has made this decision weeks after Meta abandoned similar plans in the UK and Europe.
On Tuesday, the ANPD announced the immediate suspension of Meta’s latest privacy policy, which allowed the company to train generative AI models using posts from its users. Meta expressed disappointment, stating the decision is a setback for innovation and AI development in Brazil. The company emphasized that its approach complied with local privacy laws.
Meta has a substantial user base in Brazil, with 102 million Facebook users and over 113 million Instagram users. The ANPD cited the “imminent risk of serious and irreparable damage” to the fundamental rights of account holders as the reason for its action.
Meta now has five working days to amend its privacy policy to exclude the use of personal information from public posts for AI training. Failure to comply will result in a daily fine of R$50,000 (£6,935).
Meta’s policy change has faced scrutiny in both the UK and the European Union. The proposed changes, which were to take effect on 26 June, would have included using public posts, images, comments, and Stories from users over 18 for AI development. However, this plan was delayed after a request from the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) on behalf of other European stakeholders.
In Brazil, the ANPD’s decision highlighted discrepancies in Meta’s data protection measures for Brazilian and European users. Pedro Martins from Data Privacy Brasil welcomed the decision, noting that Meta had planned to use posts from Brazilian children and teenagers for AI training, a practice not permitted in Europe.
Brazil’s data protection regulator also found that the collection and use of personal data from children and teenagers’ posts could breach the country’s data protection law. Additionally, Mr. Martins pointed out that opting out of data use is more cumbersome for Brazilian users compared to their European counterparts.