Here's how you can stop Meta from using your personal data to train its AI models

This year has seen a steady rise in the generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) space with companies like Microsoft and Google getting on the bandwagon. While the improvements in the AI space have been great, it came at a cost. The AI models used by companies have to be trained and more often than not, companies have used publicly available data to train them. However, at times this has included Personally Identifiable Information (PII), creating a privacy nightmare for companies and users alike.

Now, if you are not happy with this and want to take back control of your data, you can do so with Meta. The social media giant is allowing users to submit a request with the company if they don't wish to have Meta use their data to train its various AI models. Unfortunately, the form only covers third-party services and sources which means that you cannot ask Meta to not use data collected from its own services like Facebook and Instagram.

Generative AI models are computer programs. They use predictions and patterns to create new content. To be able to spot these patterns, models are trained on billions of pieces of data from a variety of sources. These can include information that is publicly available on the internet or licensed sources. (These are often called third party sources.)

That being said, you can still have Meta delete the third-party data by following the steps below:

Head to Facebook's Generative AI data subject rights form
You will now be presented with three options. You can ask Facebook to provide all the data it has on you, or you can have it deleted. Select the second option to have the data deleted
Once selected, fill out your country of residence, name, and email address. Though the form does not mention it, it would be a good idea to use your Facebook account's email address when filling out the form
Once done, click on send to submit the details with Facebook

Meta has not mentioned the timeline for compliance once the request has been submitted. However, the company does note that submitting the form does not automatically qualify you to have the data deleted. Once Meta receives your request, it will review it and act in line with the country's privacy laws.