The Brazilian government has prohibited Meta, formerly known as Facebook, from employing the citizens’ data to train artificial intelligence claiming privacy concerns. In its defense, Meta asserts that the policy aligns with statutory provisions. The opposition can be observed between the need for innovation and the quest for personal privacy. 

A report by Brazil’s data protection agency ANPD prohibited Meta Platforms Inc. from using Brazilian user data for training artificial intelligence systems due to privacy issues. The new privacy policy from May that Meta made for itself, including the rights to use the content of Brazilian users such as posts and images, to train artificial intelligence models was deemed by ANPD to present an ‘imminent risk of severe and difficult-to-estimate or irreparable harm.

In response, Meta stated that its privacy policies are by Brazil’s laws and regulations. The company stated that the ruling is a step in the wrong direction in terms of AI innovation in Brazil. Formerly, Meta has experienced the same issues with EU regulators. 

The tension arises from trying to innovate in the field of AI while meanwhile preserving the privacy of users with their information being used for creating and training AI. Businesses collect data to enhance the products and services they offer, and on the other hand, the authorities’ objective is to safeguard citizens’ data. While both sides have compelling arguments to be made in this particular case, there are always two sides to every story.