Background

Meta disclosed that it will start scraping conversations users have with its AI chatbots to collect data for ad targeting. The company explains that the information will be used to personalize the content and advertisements that appear across its apps, such as Facebook and Instagram. This change is slated to take effect on December 16, with the company planning to send in‑product notifications and emails to users about the new policy on October 7.

Implementation Details

According to Meta, the chatbot data will become another piece of input that informs the personalization of users' feeds and ads. The firm gives an example of a user discussing hiking with an AI chatbot and then seeing recommendations for hiking groups, posts from friends about trails, or ads for hiking boots. Meta emphasizes that the feature will roll out to most regions worldwide, though the initial launch will not impact the European Union and South Korea.

Privacy Safeguards

Meta states that the data harvested from chatbot interactions will not include topics such as religious views, sexual orientation, political views, health, racial or ethnic origin, philosophical beliefs or trade‑union membership. Christy Harris, Meta’s privacy policy manager, told Reuters that people’s interactions will simply be another input for personalizing feeds and ads. However, the company did not mention any mechanism for users to opt out of this data collection.

Criticism and Concerns

Observers have warned that this practice marks a shift in how one‑on‑one conversations are treated online, as such interactions have traditionally been excluded from ad‑targeting. Reporting by the Wall Street Journal highlighted that there will be no way for users to opt out of the scraping if they converse with a Meta chatbot. The move has sparked privacy concerns, with critics urging users to avoid discussing sensitive topics with AI chatbots, even though Meta says those topics are excluded from data collection.

This article was written with the assistance of AI.
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