The ban was decided by the National Data Protection Authority (ANPD), an agency linked to the Ministry of Justice of the South American country, which determined the immediate suspension of a new Meta privacy policy that came into force at the end of June and which allowed the use of publications on your social networks for these purposes.
In a note, the ANPD reported that Meta's new policy allows the company to use publicly available information and content shared by users of its platforms to train and improve AI systems and "such treatment may have an impact on a substantial number of people, as that, in Brazil, Facebook alone has around 102 million active users".
After launching an investigation, the agency saw signs of violations of Brazilian data protection law, as well as a risk of "serious damage that would be difficult to repair" for users, which is why it issued this "preventive measure".
According to the ANPD, Meta also did not offer "adequate and necessary information" so that data subjects were aware of the possible consequences of the processing of their personal data for the development of AI models."
The Brazilian authority also stated that, although users could object to the processing of personal data, there were "excessive and unjustified obstacles to accessing information and exercising this right".
Furthermore, the Brazilian authority warned that Meta could end up using content published by children and that it did not observe that the technology company had taken the necessary measures to safeguard children's interests.
Meta, controlled by its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, faces a fine of 50 thousand reais per day (around 8,200 euros) if it does not comply with the measure.
