The Meta AI App Is a Privacy Disaster

Meta's standalone AI app is broadcasting users' supposedly private conversations with the chatbot to the public, creating what could amount to a widespread privacy breach. Users appear largely unaware that hitting the app's share button publishes their text exchanges, audio recordings, and images for anyone to see.

The exposed conversations reveal sensitive information: people asking for help with tax evasion, whether family members might face arrest for proximity to white-collar crimes, and requests to write character reference letters that include real names of individuals facing legal troubles. Meta provides no clear indication of privacy settings during posting, and if users log in through Instagram accounts set to public, their AI searches become equally visible.

Whatsapp next

[DrXym]

So the Meta AI app is bad, but this shit will appear everywhere and in places where it serves no purpose. I have an uncle-in-law living in South Africa who came over to Ireland and had a problem with Whatsapp on his phone. The problem was it had a frigging AI chatbot stuck in the middle of the UI. He's hard of seeing so his phone had font zoom on everything and this thing was eating 20% of the screen. As far as I could tell there was no way to turn it off or hide it from the UI either and I tried.

Why did he have it but my Whatsapp didn't? No idea, but presumably they forced it on some regions with lesser privacy regs with the intent of rolling it out everywhere in due course. So enjoy AI dogshit everywhere, even in apps where it makes no sense.

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[neilo_1701D]

So enjoy AI dogshit everywhere, even in apps where it makes no sense.

Ah, another satisfied Microsoft 365 user, describing their wondrous interactions with Copilot!

Why would this surprise anyone?

[angryman77]

It's Meta.

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[93 Escort Wagon]

The Meta AI App Is a Privacy Disaster

Seriously... was there anyone who wasn't already certain this would be the case?

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[sabbede]

That the users would think clicking "share" meant anything other than "share this with everyone"? That really doesn't sound like Meta did anything wrong except let idiots use their service.

Well sure. That's Facebook.

[Sarusa]

Every single f@#$ing thing Facebook has ever done since they were created in 2004 to bag on @#$%es who wouldn't sleep with sociopath Zuck has been a complete privacy disaster. They pioneered data theft and dark UI for the entire internet as it exists today. You wouldn't have Tiktok as it exists without Facebook blazing the way down to hell. The entire purpose of anything they make is to stab their slobbering proboscis deep into your deepest parts and suck them dry for his evil empire.

Which I know isn't new

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[HiThere]

It's annoying, but good, because "there's a sucker born every minute" means there are always new victims who haven't been warned.

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[sabbede]

What's the second sentence in the summary? Read it again and tell me if it's Meta or the user who is at fault.

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[Big Hairy Gorilla]

Aha! I think Eric Schmidt and the Google boys take the credit for pioneering data surveillance. and it was FB that copied them... according to The Age of Surveillance Capitalism (Zuboff)... small point. .... but I think that FB was a leader in dark UI patterns though, they employ thousands of psychologists, from what I know. They must be doing something.

Working as intended

[Alumoi]

Nothing to see, move on.

Widespread privacy breach

[Mirnotoriety]

You don't have any privacy on Social Media and on top of that META breaks out of the sandbox to track you, even in private browsing.

Covert Web-to-App Tracking via Localhost on Android [github.io]

It really seems like data efiltration is the...

[PubJeezy]

It really seems like data exfiltration is the real business for big tech. They keep releasing products that had to be specifically designed to fail from a cyber-security stand point. Chatbots, Windows Recall, cloud computing, off-site internet-connected storage of important data, all the stuff that Big Tech is pushing weakens the users over all opsec.

This software is not an unknowable, unopenable black box. It's a fucking chatbot. We've had them for decades. They're not very effective. They're entirely unproductive. And if a chatbot is sharing your information it's because it was programmed to do that.

As always.

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

"They 'trust' me. Dumb fucks."

Wait...

[cripkd]

By design, right?

In other news...

[RUs1729]

Liquid water is wet. Come on! We are talking a Facebook product here. What else could it be but a privacy disaster?

I am shocked

[uohcicds]

And stunned. Stunned, I tells ya.

Just confirms my absolute conviction that using any of the major GenAI products for anything is a very poor move. I'm becoming more militant in rejecting this utter crud. That little blue Meta AI ring is utterly unused in WhatsApp, and will remain so pretty much forever,

What did they think "Share" meant?

[sabbede]

"Users appear largely unaware that hitting the app's share button publishes their text exchanges, audio recordings, and images for anyone to see."

Really? And Meta is to blame for this deficiency in vocabulary? No, no they are not. I'm sorry but claiming to not understand that clicking "share" means "share" only signifies that the user was an idiot, not that anyone did anything wrong.

Well. Stupidity comes at a price

[gweihir]

In this case the stupidity to trust technology without anty sane reason to do so. While Meta surely carries part of the plame, it is not the only party with responsibility for this here.

Dont understand the appeal of "social media"

[Slashythenkilly]

If you arnt paying for the product, you are definitely the product. We need to go back to the days of old fashioned communication.