Meta’s AI assistant may access user networks without explicit consent, privacy expert warns
Meta’s new AI assistant has sparked privacy concerns over its potential to collect personal data from users’ networks, including details about friends, family, and others who never agreed to the technology. Privacy attorney Leeza Garber compared the assistant’s data collection to shadow profiles, warning that it could build detailed profiles of users and their connections without clear consent…
Key points
- Meta’s AI assistant may access user networks, exposing data about friends/family without their consent, says privacy expert
- Garber warns AI assistants could build hourly-updated profiles using connected accounts like social media and finances
- Meta’s past privacy issues and shadow profiles raise concerns about transparency and user control over data
Garber highlighted that AI assistants often request access to accounts, messages, and financial data under the guise of convenience, but this can expose sensitive information about third parties. She cited Meta’s history of privacy controversies, including shadow profiles for non-users and past regulatory challenges, as reasons for caution. While Meta offers privacy controls, Garber urged users to scrutinize permissions closely, especially given the commercial value of personal data in advertising-driven platforms like Meta’s.
Meta’s new AI assistant sparks privacy fears over data pulled from users’ networks
wjla.com · 14 October 2026
Loading the full article…
This text was published by wjla.com and written by The National News Desk. It is reproduced here with attribution so you can read it in full; the rights remain with the publisher. Read it at the source ↗
The headline, key points and digest above were generated by Digest AI's editorial model from the linked sources. Automated summaries can contain errors: the sources are the record. Spotted a mistake? Tell us. Published by Martin K., who runs Digest AI and handles corrections.
More in Society & Work
All →- Google adds AI scam detection to Messages for more Android phones · 4 src
- Kundizeza denies using AI for prize-winning story · 1 src
- Anthropic’s Claude AI sent fake murder tip to Philadelphia police, delayed reporting sparks criticism · 8 src
- Twin Health’s digital twin app improves user’s liver metrics by 9 points in 100 days · 1 src
- MI5 warns AI may alter bioweapons development stakes · 1 src
Comments
via GitHub Discussions