Meta AI app’s Discover feed is reportedly being flooded with users’ private conversations and requests, unintentionally shared to the public. Multiple reports have highlighted instances of text chats and image prompts that appear deeply personal, suggesting that users may be accidentally posting them to the app’s social feed. The appearance of these public posts has raised concerns among netizens, and experts are reportedly questioning whether the company is doing enough to protect its user base’s privacy.
Meta AI App’s Social Feed Reportedly Contains Posts About Medical and Legal Queries
A TechCrunch report claims to have spotted posts where “people ask for help with tax evasion,” inquired about “how to write a character reference letter for an employee facing legal troubles,” and even people asking what to do if there are “a bunch of red bumps on my inner thigh” on the Meta AI app’s Discover feed.
The publication, which also posted screenshots of similar public posts, is not alone. Kylie Robinson, Senior Correspondent at Wired and author of the report, claimed to have seen posts from users asking, “Do younger women like older white men?” among others.
Further, Calli Schroeder, Senior Counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, told Wired in an interview that she has come across posts where people are “sharing medical information, mental health information, home addresses, even things directly related to pending court cases.”
While Gadgets 360 staff members have not seen such outrightly private posts, we have also spotted odd posts where people have posted their selfies, which was originally a request to the chatbot to make a minor edit. Some of these pictures include minors with a changed hair colour. Additionally, several X (formerly known as Twitter) users have also posted screenshots of such private posts on the app’s social feed.
It cannot be said with certainty that in all of these instances, people were unaware that they were making a public post. However, the nature of the queries and images does raise the suspicion of the same.
Currently, publicly sharing a post on Meta AI is a two-step process after a user has had a conversation with the chatbot. A Share button appears on the top of the chat interface, tapping which takes the user to a new page titled “Preview.” Here, the AI generates an editable title for the post, the query and its response, with a large “Post” button at the bottom.
However, there is nothing else to tell users that tapping on the Post button makes the entire conversation public and visible to others. While it is easier for those fluent with modern apps to understand what the Post button means, those who are not tech-savvy can mistakenly tap it and not realise that they have shared a conversation.
At the time of launching the Meta AI app, the tech giant had said, ‘And as always, you’re in control: nothing is shared to your feed unless you choose to post it.” However, the reported incidents raise the concern about whether the two-step process is enough to make people aware of the consequences of tapping on the “Post” button.
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