Viral “Goodbye Meta AI” Post Is a Privacy Hoax

• A post titled Goodbye Meta AI" recently went viral. Users were made to believe that sharing it is a way of stopping Meta from using your data for AI training.
• Around 500,000 people have already shared this post, including some known celebrities.
• However, it's a privacy hoax. This post has no legal standing and cannot force the company to change its ways.

If you're an active Instagram or Facebook user like me, chances are you've come across the Goodbye Meta AI" post. Well, I'm here to tell you all about this new viral trend and whether it'll really safeguard your privacy on these social media platforms.

It's a story template with a message that starts with Goodbye Meta AI. Please note an attorney has advised us to put this on, failure to do so may result in legal consequences."

It then goes on to say that since Meta is a public company now, all users need to reshare the post or the company will assume that they support it using their data for training its AI models.

The post has already been reshared by a whopping 500,000 users, including public figures such as actress Julianne Moore and former NFL quarterback Tom Brady.

However, the Goodbye Meta AI" trend is a privacy hoax. There's no legal basis for such a post, and sharing it won't stop Meta in any way.

In fact, it might make you a target for cybercrimes. Former American Idol contestant and drag queen Ada Vox shared a post on Facebook warning her followers. She said that sometimes hackers use posts like this to target gullible users.

Sharing such posts brings the attention of opportunistic cybercriminals to you, making you more susceptible to fraud.

Older people are more likely to be targets because they're more likely to believe that sharing this post will actually stop Meta. So, if you see any senior folks sharing the Goodbye Meta AI" post, make sure you warn them.

How to Really Stop Meta from Using Your Posts?

The easiest way is to make your profile private. In a press release last September, when Meta introduced its AI and talked about its data collection practices, it was made clear that only publicly available posts will be used to train it, meaning no private posts or messages will be tracked.

However, unfortunately, this also means that if you have a public account, there's nothing you can do to stop Meta from using your posts as long as you are on the platform. In case you delete your account, though, its Terms of Services will no longer apply to you and hence they won't be able to use your data.

There's another way to object to how Facebook and Instagram use your data. It requires you to directly reach out to Meta and is only applicable to users from the UK and the EU - that's because when Meta announced its data scraping plans, these countries were the only ones that objected, citing privacy concerns.

Therefore, Meta had to make an exception. So, you can request the company to stop using your data, but do note that there's no guarantee that your request will be honored.

The post Viral Goodbye Meta AI" Post Is a Privacy Hoax appeared first on The Tech Report.