If your Instagram account is public, anyone can now use your photos to generate new AI-created images.
According to reports, users can tag any public Instagram account in Meta’s AI system, allowing the platform to use photos from that profile as reference images to create new AI-generated content.
Meta says it will not notify the account owner when their public photos are used in AI-generated content. This means people with public Instagram accounts may never know their images have been used.
To address privacy concerns, Instagram has introduced two new settings related to sharing and reuse. These options allow users to stop their posts and Reels from being reused by AI systems.
However, these protections are not enabled by default. Users must manually change the settings. The restrictions apply only to future AI use and do not affect AI-generated images that have already been created.
Reports also suggest that some users have not yet received these new privacy controls, meaning they currently cannot choose whether to block AI use of their photos.
Meta has previously faced criticism over its handling of user data.
In 2019, the company received a record fine in the United States over the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and in 2021 it shut down its facial recognition system amid growing privacy concerns.
