Simon McGarr, a solicitor and director of Data Compliance Europe, has called for the Data Protection Commissioner to intervene, stating that Meta's data processing includes sensitive personal data, such as posts discussing sexual orientation or medical conditions. These types of data, McGarr argues, cannot be legally processed under the guise of legitimate interest, as per GDPR rules. The Data Protection Commissioner has yet to comment on the issue.
Key takeaways:
- Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, plans to use users' posts and photos to train its Artificial Intelligence products and services, raising data protection concerns.
- Users are automatically opted in to this plan and must go through several steps to opt out, which has been criticized by data privacy advocates and experts.
- Simon McGarr, a solicitor and director of Data Compliance Europe, argues that Meta's use of sensitive personal data cannot be processed on the basis of legitimate interest, as per Article 9 of GDPR legislation.
- The Data Protection Commissioner has been urged to intervene in the matter, as posts discussing sensitive topics like sexual orientation or medical conditions should not be processed under legitimate interest according to GDPR legislation.