During an inquiry into the influence and impacts of social media on Australian society, Meta’s global privacy director Melinda Claybaugh admitted that Meta scrapes the public photos, posts and other data of Australian adult users to train its AI models and provides no opt-out option.

This means that all public user data collected since 2007 has been used for AI training without the express consent of any Australian citizen.

The inquiry has shed light on gaps and loopholes within Australia’s privacy and cyber-security laws, which are in desperate need of reform.

Image: Shutterstock: Ascannio

Produced By: Ben Fragiadakis

Featured In Story: Kate Carruthers Head of Business Intelligence of UNSW AI , Greens Senator David Shoebridge , and

First aired on The Wire, Wednesday 11 September 2024