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Meta Reins in AI That Scraped Public Instagram Photos: Your Privacy Guide Earlier this month, a cascade of criticism followed reports that Meta had been using public Instagram images to train its generative AI models without explicit permission from users. The company had quietly activated a tool that automatically scraped photos from public accounts, feeding them into its AI training pipeline. After the backlash, Meta announced it would rein in the tool. ...

Meta backed off using your Instagram photos for AI—here’s how to keep your stuff private Meta recently pulled back on an AI tool that was automatically scraping public Instagram images to train its models. The move followed widespread criticism from users and privacy advocates who said the company used their content without asking. The company now says it will respect user privacy settings and limit future scraping. But if you’re concerned about your photos being used this way, there are steps you can take right now. ...

Instagram’s AI Image Generator: What It Means for Your Privacy and How to Opt Out In early July 2026, Instagram launched a new AI image generator that can take photos from your account and create altered or entirely new images based on them. The feature lets anyone—not just you—use your images as inputs for AI-generated pictures, similar to deepfakes. Privacy experts quickly flagged concerns about consent and data usage, especially because for most public accounts, the default setting is opt-in. That means your photos may already be feeding the generator unless you take deliberate steps to stop it. ...