Meta has launched a new feature within the Facebook app that uses artificial intelligence to analyze users' photos stored on their phones, even if they are not published on the platform. The feature appears when attempting to create a new story, where the user is asked to agree to "cloud processing," allowing private photos to be transferred to the company's servers for analysis.
The feature relies on careful analysis of photos using information such as time of capture, geolocation, and facial recognition to make automated suggestions such as stories or collages. Although Meta emphasizes that it does not use photos for advertising purposes, the move has raised growing concerns about the use of personal data without adequate oversight.
The company explains that the aim of the feature is to enable users to easily create creative visual content, but its mechanism requires full access to phone photos, making sensitive data vulnerable to analysis and processing outside of the user's direct control.
On the other hand, privacy experts believe that this feature opens the door to unforeseen uses of data, especially since the average user often agrees to the terms without reading them or understanding their details, giving tech companies more freedom than they realize.
This feature comes in the context of an accelerating global trend towards integrating artificial intelligence into everyday digital life, from smart recommendations to facial recognition, which reinforces the debate about the need to set clear standards that protect users from the unannounced exploitation of their data.
While these tools offer innovative facilities, there are growing concerns about crossing the line between "help" and "surveillance," prompting technology and digital rights experts to call for more transparency and accountability in the design and deployment of such technologies.