Meta proceeded with AI training using certain public Facebook and Instagram content from adult users in the EU/EEA after pausing the plan in 2024. The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) later said it was monitoring the safeguards—not that it had formally approved the processing or found it GDPR-compliant. This status reflects the DPC’s public record available on August 18, 2026.
At a glance
- Data at issue: Certain public Facebook and Instagram content associated with adult users in the EU/EEA, alongside information people choose to share with Meta AI features.
- Meta’s legal basis: Legitimate interest under Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR, rather than advance opt-in consent from every affected user.
- Challenge: noyb and other complainants argued that the legal basis and opt-out approach were inadequate.
- Regulatory status: After a 2024 pause and later changes, processing proceeded. The DPC reported continued monitoring, not a final clearance.
What data was involved?
The dispute was not about an assertion that every Meta account or every private message was automatically fed into AI training. Meta described the relevant material as public information from Facebook and Instagram accounts belonging to people aged 18 or older, including public posts and comments, subject to its stated scope and safeguards. Public photographs and other publicly shared material may also be relevant where they fall within that scope; the available statements do not establish that every such item was included.
Meta also identifies information people choose to share when interacting with Meta AI features. That is distinct from collecting a person’s private messages for general model training. Meta says it does not use private messages for that general training, while messages voluntarily shared with an AI feature may be processed under the terms for that feature. See Meta’s generative-AI privacy explanation and its announcement about AI in Europe.
| Category | How it relates to the plan |
|---|---|
| Public Facebook and Instagram posts, comments, and other public material | Meta described public information from adult accounts in the EU/EEA as a training-data category. This does not establish that every public item was used. |
| Private messages not sent to an AI feature | Meta says these are not used to train its general AI models. |
| Messages or prompts voluntarily shared with Meta AI | These may be processed in connection with the AI feature under separate terms; they should not be conflated with public-post training. |
| Content associated with users under 18 | Meta’s stated scope refers to public information from adult accounts. That statement does not settle every question about minors’ data or every AI feature. |
A post being visible to other users does not, by itself, settle whether a later use is lawful under data-protection rules. Visibility is one factor in assessing people’s expectations and the balance between a company’s interests and individuals’ rights.
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Why did privacy groups object?
Meta relied on the GDPR’s legitimate-interest basis, which does not require the same prior opt-in process as consent but does require a valid interest, necessity, and a balancing assessment that takes account of people’s rights and reasonable expectations. Meta’s position was that this basis could support the training subject to safeguards. noyb argued that the scale and nature of the use, its departure from the context in which people originally posted, and the opt-out model made legitimate interest inappropriate or insufficient. Those are the complainants’ arguments, not a final finding against Meta. The dispute is set out in noyb’s case materials and its Irish complaint.
Critics also questioned whether people could reasonably expect older public posts and images to be repurposed for generative-AI development, and whether an objection form offered a meaningful choice. The DPC’s 2024 annual report recorded reports that the original form was unavailable in some jurisdictions, could not be reached in the mobile app, or produced errors and unclear confirmation after submission. These problems mattered because an opt-out is only useful if people can find and complete it reliably. The report is available from the DPC Annual Report 2024.
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How the complaint and regulatory process unfolded
- March 2024: Meta informed the DPC of its plan to train models using public adult content from Facebook and Instagram in the EU/EEA.
- May 2024: Meta announced privacy-policy changes associated with the plan.
- June 2024: The DPC asked Meta to pause the proposed training while European regulators considered the issue; Meta agreed. The DPC described this engagement in its June 2024 statement.
- September 2024: The DPC sought a Europe-wide opinion from the European Data Protection Board (EDPB).
- December 18, 2024: The EDPB adopted Opinion 28/2024 on data-protection aspects of AI models.
- May 2025: After reviewing Meta’s revised proposal, the DPC said training could begin on May 27, 2025, subject to changes and safeguards.
- March 2025, as later reported: The DPC’s 2025 annual report said it understood that Meta had begun processing in the EU in March 2025 and that monitoring continued.
noyb filed complaints with national data-protection authorities. Because Meta Platforms Ireland is the relevant EU establishment for this cross-border matter, Ireland’s DPC acted as lead supervisory authority and consulted other European regulators. That structure does not mean each national authority separately issued a ruling against Meta. The DPC’s account is in its statement on Meta AI; noyb also records the lead-authority process on its case page.
What the EDPB opinion did—and did not—decide
Opinion 28/2024 gave data-protection authorities a framework for assessing AI-model development and deployment under the GDPR. It addressed when a model may be anonymous, whether legitimate interest can be used, how reasonable expectations and the balancing of interests matter, and what follows if personal data was unlawfully processed during model development. The EDPB explains the opinion in its announcement and publishes the full Opinion 28/2024.
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It was not a court judgment or a final, Meta-specific authorization. Nor does it establish that an AI model is anonymous simply because it has been trained. The Meta-specific complaint and the regulator’s assessment must be distinguished from the EDPB’s general guidance.
What changed before processing proceeded?
The DPC said Meta revised its proposal and introduced or committed to safeguards. These were intended to improve transparency, reduce the amount of personal data used, and make it easier for people to object. They do not, by themselves, resolve the underlying disagreement over the appropriate legal basis.
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- Direct notifications to users in 2024 and 2025, with more detailed information.
- A revised objection form, in-app access to it, and availability across European jurisdictions.
- More than a year for users to object, plus information that changing public posts to private could prevent their future use while public.
- Data filtering and de-identification, output filters, and updated legitimate-interest, data-protection-impact, and compatibility assessments.
The DPC’s description of the revised proposal and safeguards appears in its May 2025 statement.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What EU/EEA users can do
Use the current privacy notice and controls shown for your account and jurisdiction rather than relying on an old menu path: Meta changes interface labels, and available controls can vary. The DPC said the revised form was available in-app and across European jurisdictions. Meta’s Privacy Centre explanation describes its stated data categories and controls.
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- Open the current Meta Privacy Centre or the AI-related privacy notice in Facebook or Instagram, and follow the objection option shown for your account and location.
- Submit the objection and save the confirmation screen or email. If you use both Facebook and Instagram, check whether the notice presents account-specific controls for each service.
- Review which posts and other material are public. Changing a post to private may help prevent future use while it is public, but it is not proof that Meta has deleted data already processed.
- If the form fails, record the date, country, device, app version, and error or confirmation message. Keep that record when contacting Meta or your national data-protection authority.
An objection is not the same as a guarantee that every prior training input or model representation will immediately be erased. The public material cited here does not establish a general model-level deletion or retraining procedure for every objection. People depicted in public photographs may also have rights of their own that are not necessarily addressed by the account holder’s objection.
What remains unresolved
As of August 18, 2026, the latest cited DPC account says the regulator continued monitoring safeguards and expected a report after a training run. Its 2025 Annual Report says it had not approved or found compliant Meta’s use of personal data for generative-AI model training. The material cited here does not verify a final decision dismissing the complaints, a blanket order stopping all EU training, or a definitive resolution of how objections affect already processed data or model artifacts.
- Whether the DPC will issue a final decision on this training activity.
- Whether the safeguards adequately address complainants’ objections about legitimate interest, reasonable expectations, and scale.
- How objections are applied to information already processed and whether any model-level remedy is available in a particular case.
- How processing tied to voluntary use of Meta AI features is handled as those products and terms evolve.
This account concerns the EU/EEA program described by the DPC and Meta. It does not establish the treatment of UK users, WhatsApp messages, or every other Meta product.
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