Meta adjusts AI chatbot following criticism over intrusive questions about children’s personal data
The Meta AI chatbot on Facebook and Instagram suggested prompts that pieced together personal data about a user’s children from multiple posts, including an allegedly deleted photo. Following a viral video by Kalie Robins, Meta acknowledged that the feature “missed the mark” and claims to have fixed the issue.
Instagram user Kalie Robins posted a video showing how Meta AI offered her the prompt “Who is the child passenger?” beneath a clip of her daughter singing in a car. According to Robins, after she clicked it, the chatbot combined information from her earlier posts and posts by relatives and suggested further questions about the children’s ages and where the family lives. Robins says the chatbot also displayed photos of her daughters, including one she claims to have deleted years ago.
Meta spokesperson Dina El-Kassaby told The Verge that the feature “missed the mark” and should never have approached users with such questions. According to the company, the feature was intended to give people more information about topics or posts they are interested in, with the response drawing on information the user already has access to — in this case, the AI could have drawn on videos in which Robins herself named her children. Meta says it has fixed the issue causing these prompt suggestions.
Meta AI is integrated into Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, where it answers questions, writes posts and generates images. In July, following criticism, the company withdrew another feature that allowed users to create AI deepfakes of other Instagram users.
Why it matters
For users of Meta platforms, the case shows that AI features can piece together sensitive personal data about children across multiple posts without any apparent warning, including from relatives’ accounts, and display previously deleted content. For companies developing similar AI assistants, it is a reminder of the risk posed by features that aggregate data across sources without clear user consent — with implications for reputation and compliance with privacy protections, especially for children.
Two audiences, two different impacts
What this means
For individuals
Users of Meta platforms should be aware that AI features can automatically piece together personal data about children from multiple posts, including posts on relatives’ profiles, even from content the user thought they had deleted.
For a business
Companies developing AI assistants integrated into social platforms face reputational and compliance risks if the features aggregate personal data across posts and accounts without explicit user consent, especially when the data concerns children.
Risks and complianceCheck the original
Event sources
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