Digital Rights

Meta’s Muse AI: How to Stop Your Instagram Photos From Being Used for AI Training If you’ve used Instagram for any length of time, you’ve probably posted dozens or hundreds of photos of yourself, your family, and your daily life. Now Meta has launched a new image-generation tool called Muse that can train on those very photos. The tool, released in July 2026, has drawn immediate criticism from privacy advocates and the actors’ union SAG‑AFTRA, which is urging its members to opt out. ...

What Meta’s Muse AI Tool Meant for Your Instagram Privacy (And Why It Was Pulled) In early July 2026, Meta launched a new feature on Instagram called Muse. It let users generate AI images of themselves in various artistic styles, like animations, paintings, or fantasy characters. Within days, Muse was removed after widespread backlash from privacy advocates, cybersecurity firms, and Hollywood unions. If you were on Instagram during that window, your photos may have been used to train a generative AI model — without your explicit permission. ...

New State Laws on Privacy, AI, and Data Centers: What You Need to Know Intro If you’ve noticed more pop-ups asking about cookie preferences, or seen a news story about a new data center being built nearby, there’s a reason. Over the past year, state legislatures have been busy passing laws that directly affect how companies handle your personal information, how artificial intelligence can be used, and how data centers operate. Because federal action has been slow and fragmented, states are creating their own rules — and they often differ from one state to another. ...

Instagram’s New AI Image Generator: Are Your Photos Being Used Without Your Permission? If you have a public Instagram account, your photos may now be feeding a new AI image generator from Meta. The tool, which can turn existing images into new ones — including deepfakes — has alarmed privacy experts and raised questions about consent. Here’s what happened and what you can do about it. ...

How Instagram’s New AI Image Generator Puts Your Privacy at Risk (And What to Do About It) Privacy experts are raising red flags about Instagram’s AI image generator. Here’s how it works, what data it collects, and how you can protect yourself. ...

How to Cut Through AI Hype: EFF’s Campaign and What It Means for You Intro Walk into any electronics store or scroll through a software ad, and you’ll see “AI” slapped on everything—from toasters to tax software. But not all of that intelligence is real, and a lot of it is misleading. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a nonprofit digital rights group founded in 1990, has launched a campaign called “Help EFF Cut the AI Hype.” They want consumers to help identify and call out exaggerated AI claims. This article explains why that matters and what you can actually do to push back. ...

How to Spot AI Hype and Protect Your Privacy: EFF’s Practical Guide Introduction Every few months, a new AI product promises to revolutionize your life. It can write your emails, edit your photos, or chat with you like a human. The marketing is polished, the demos are slick, and the claims are huge. But behind the hype, there’s often a less glamorous reality: your personal data being collected, analyzed, and sometimes sold. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a nonprofit digital rights group founded in 1990, has launched a campaign called “Help EFF Cut the AI Hype” to help consumers see through the noise and make informed decisions. This article walks through the practical steps you can take today. ...

How to Cut Through the AI Hype and Protect Your Privacy: Lessons from the EFF New AI-powered tools appear almost daily, each promising to save time, boost creativity, or simplify your life. Their marketing often includes phrases like “fully private,” “anonymized data,” or “no training on your data.” But what do these claims actually mean for your privacy? The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a leading digital rights group, has been urging consumers and lawmakers to cut through the hype and look at the real risks. This article translates their advice into practical steps you can use today. ...

How to Cut Through AI Hype and Protect Your Privacy: Tips from EFF Introduction Every week, a new AI-powered tool or service promises to transform the way you work, shop, or communicate. From writing assistants to image generators, the marketing is relentless. But behind the breathless claims of “intelligence” and “innovation,” there’s often a less glamorous reality: data collection, opaque algorithms, and privacy risks that are rarely mentioned in the ad copy. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has been tracking this gap between promise and practice for years, and their recent work on cutting AI hype is a good place to start if you want to make more informed decisions. ...

How to Cut Through AI Hype and Protect Your Privacy: A Guide from EFF Every week, it seems, a new company announces an AI tool that will “revolutionise” your workflow, “personalise” your experience, or “intelligently” anticipate your needs. But behind the marketing language, many of these products collect more data than they disclose, rely on poorly documented training methods, and rarely deliver on their boldest promises. The result is a fog of hype that makes it hard for ordinary users to know which tools deserve their trust – and which ones put their privacy at risk. ...