Snapchat Reserves the Right to Use AI-Generated Images of Your Face in Ads (www.404media.co)
from some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org to technology@lemmy.world on 17 Sep 2024 22:08
https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/22487219

Snapchat is reserving the right to put its users’ faces in ads, according to terms of service related to its “My Selfie” tool (formerly “AI Selfies”), which allows users and their friends to create AI-generated images trained on their selfies.

Users have the option to opt out of this by toggling off a “feature” in the app called “See My Selfie in Ads,” but according to 404 Media’s testing this feature is on by default.

#technology

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vikingtons@lemmy.world on 17 Sep 2024 22:12 next collapse

Archive link

archive.ph/uHqsT

Raw:

Snapchat is reserving the right to put its users’ faces in ads, according to terms of service related to its “My Selfie” tool (formerly “AI Selfies”), which allows users and their friends to create AI-generated images trained on their selfies. Users have the option to opt out of this by toggling off a “feature” in the app called “See My Selfie in Ads,” but according to 404 Media’s testing this feature is on by default.

“My Selfie is used to power Generative AI, Cameos and other experiences on Snapchat that feature you, including ads,” a pop up in the Snapchat app says. “My Selfie uses your images and information to do this.”

<img alt="" src="https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/d26557ae-9292-40f7-a025-9b13527943d6.png">

A support page on the Snapchat website titled “What is My Selfie?” explains further: “You’ll take selfies with your Snap camera or select images from your camera roll. These images will be used to understand what you look like to enable you, Snap and your friends to generate novel images of you. If you’re uploading images from the camera roll, only add images of yourself,” Snapchat’s site says. “After you’ve successfully onboarded, you may have access to some features powered by My Selfie, like Cameos stickers and AI Snaps. We are constantly adding features and functionality so stay tuned for more My Selfie features.”

After seeing the popup, I searched for instances of people getting ads featuring their own face on Snapchat, and found this thread on the r/Privacy Reddit community where a user claimed exactly this happened to them. In an email to 404 Media, Snapchat said that it couldn’t confirm or deny whether this user was served an ad featuring their face, but if they did, the ad was not using My Selfie images. Snapchat also said that it investigated the claim in the Reddit thread and that the advertiser, yourdreamdegree.com, has a history of advertising on Snapchat and that Snapchat believes the ad in question does not violate any of its policies.

“The photo that was used in the advertisement is clearly AI, however, it is very clearly me,” the Reddit user said. “It has my face, my hair, the clothing I wear, and even has my lamp & part of a painting on my wall in the background. I have no idea how they got photos of me to be able to generate this ad.”

(The Reddit user did not respond to a request for comment. yourdreamdegree.com did not respond to a request for comment.)

“You are correct that our terms do reserve the right, in the future, to offer advertising based on My Selfies in which a Snapchatter can see themselves in a generated image delivered to them,” a Snapchat spokesperson said. “As explained in the onboarding modal, Snapchatters have full control over this, and can turn this on and off in My Selfie Settings at any time.”

Snapchat emphasized that “Advertisers do not have access to Snapchatters’ Gen AI data in any capacity, including My Selfies. Nor do they have access to Snapchatters’ private data, including Memories, that would enable them to create an AI generated image of an individual Snapchatter.”

However, the company did not answer questions about how it could in the future serve ads featuring a user’s face without providing that data to advertisers. Instead, it replied that “Snap currently does not use My Selfies in advertising,” and that “the terms you cited simply reserve the right.”

YurkshireLad@lemmy.ca on 17 Sep 2024 23:24 collapse

Sadly it’s not responding at the moment. At least for me.

vikingtons@lemmy.world on 18 Sep 2024 01:03 collapse

Ah yeah, I’m not getting any response from archive.ph right now :/

E: got it working again after several attempts. Posting raw text

Rob200@lemmy.autism.place on 17 Sep 2024 22:21 next collapse

No. Just no. Not even going to highlight anything from this article.

eran_morad@lemmy.world on 17 Sep 2024 22:38 next collapse

Snapchat hereby has the right to suck my ass.

cheese_greater@lemmy.world on 17 Sep 2024 22:49 next collapse

Ur gonna regret that harder than the poor souls making up the HumanCentiPad

seaQueue@lemmy.world on 18 Sep 2024 00:52 next collapse

*Snapchat reserves the right to use your ass in AI ads

Roflmasterbigpimp@lemmy.world on 18 Sep 2024 10:04 collapse

Snapchat the next Day:

<img alt="" src="https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/1101fc19-4552-49fb-b3e2-188ea203732a.jpeg">

solsangraal@lemmy.zip on 17 Sep 2024 22:58 next collapse

they know that the type of people who use snapchat of all fucking things either don’t give a shit, or are too ignorant to see it as an issue. if they ever read about this at all. at the end of the day, they know that not enough people will ditch the platform to make any difference

Orbituary@lemmy.world on 18 Sep 2024 00:02 next collapse

I’d say the same for Tiktok users. But that’s the popular platform, so it’s unpopular to criticize it.

theangryseal@lemmy.world on 18 Sep 2024 09:41 collapse

I really did think that a Chinese social media company would never stand a chance here. I run into 80 year old farmers who ask me, “Did you see ‘at feller on TikTok who does ‘at thang with the tractor?”

That same person will go on and on about China. People are neat.

otter@lemmy.ca on 18 Sep 2024 06:09 collapse

For anyone that has friends that can be convinced to move off snapchat:

  • it doesn’t actually delete things after the timer goes out, it just hides it from view. Sometimes the app bugs out and that data will be accessible again
  • signal has stories and the same format of disappearing messages
  • everything else that’s good about signal

If what they want is the “One weird trick your doctor is hiding from you” style content on the discover page, then I got nothing.

Gork@lemm.ee on 17 Sep 2024 23:05 next collapse

Bye Snapchat.

SendMePhotos@lemmy.world on 17 Sep 2024 23:37 collapse

If you don’t use that feature, it’s a non issue. Right?

nieminen@lemmy.world on 17 Sep 2024 23:38 next collapse

It’s the principle of the thing. These companies keep overreaching all the time.

SendMePhotos@lemmy.world on 18 Sep 2024 00:50 collapse

Yeah. I suppose. It would have been better from a security/privacy standpoint for it to be an opt-in vs an opt-out.

shani66@ani.social on 18 Sep 2024 01:18 next collapse

Or to not do it to begin with.

nieminen@lemmy.world on 18 Sep 2024 01:44 next collapse

That’s the thing though. They know nobody would ever do this voluntarily.

linearchaos@lemmy.world on 18 Sep 2024 12:29 collapse

If they would have had two working brain cells they would have made it opt in and made a contest told them that one lucky person will win $10,000.

[deleted] on 18 Sep 2024 16:10 collapse

.

spankmonkey@lemmy.world on 17 Sep 2024 23:43 collapse

Name checks out…

warm@kbin.earth on 17 Sep 2024 23:13 next collapse

Doesn't seem to exist at all in EU. Disgusting either way.

tabular@lemmy.world on 17 Sep 2024 23:24 next collapse

Snapneck

CosmoNova@lemmy.world on 17 Sep 2024 23:29 next collapse

I can’t think of a way for this to be legal in the EU by any capacity. I really don’t. They’re essentially claiming they own your likeness just by using their app and I really doubt it’s that simple. It’s kind of like asking for your first born in a readme.txt of a github script. Just because you write something ridiculous doesn’t mean it’s legal.

RustyShackleford@literature.cafe on 18 Sep 2024 01:21 collapse

No, but they’ll try because the citizens aren’t rebelling against it yet.

potentiallynotfelix@lemdro.id on 18 Sep 2024 00:09 next collapse

I think i still have an account of it, but I haven’t agreed to anything, so I should be good, right…? Anyone know?

halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world on 18 Sep 2024 01:09 collapse

You think that will stop them? They’ll just do it and pay a comparatively small fine to the government in a decade after they get around to investigating it. And that’s the best case scenario. More realistically nothing will ever happen.

potentiallynotfelix@lemdro.id on 18 Sep 2024 02:10 collapse

Yeah i fear that… i should probably just delete my account

halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world on 18 Sep 2024 02:15 collapse

That won’t stop them either. They’ll just use it anyway. These companies never delete anything they might be able to use. At least not willingly.

turbowafflz@lemmy.world on 18 Sep 2024 00:19 next collapse

I mean, this is dumb, but it’s only ads specifically shown to you so it isn’t really a privacy issue. The headline seems like it’s intentionally trying to make it seem a lot worse than it is

simonced@lemmy.one on 18 Sep 2024 01:40 next collapse

It’s still not a feature that users asked for. Hence why making it in the first place, is hiding some darker and creepier objectives.

brbposting@sh.itjust.works on 18 Sep 2024 02:53 next collapse

If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said “faster horses.“ surveillance capitalism.

turbowafflz@lemmy.world on 18 Sep 2024 04:26 collapse

I mean yeah it’s a stupid feature that they probably shouldn’t have, I just think the headline is super misleading since it implies they would use your face to advertise to to others which isn’t true.

simonced@lemmy.one on 18 Sep 2024 05:01 collapse

The fact they think I want to see my face in ads, is dumb beyond belief. And they spent money on that lol.

TopRamenBinLaden@sh.itjust.works on 18 Sep 2024 07:46 collapse

I don’t why you are so downvoted. Your comment didn’t come off as shilling for Snapchat or anything, and it just clarifies things for people who only read the headline. I appreciate the clarification.

This is still an invasion of privacy, but not quite as egregious as using people’s faces in global advertisements. Obligatory fuck Snapchat, regardless.

jewbacca117@lemmy.world on 18 Sep 2024 01:43 next collapse

What I’m gathering, it’s just the my selfie tool right? I’ve never bothered to set that up anyways

daggermoon@lemmy.world on 18 Sep 2024 07:28 next collapse

That’s why I deleted my account. May Snapchat rest in piss.

Squizzy@lemmy.world on 18 Sep 2024 09:26 collapse

I cannot, I have had it for over a decade at this rate I think and my number associated is old now and I can’t log into to the website to delete. I can log into the app and use it but cannot delete it.

Louisoix@lemm.ee on 18 Sep 2024 09:55 next collapse

LoL good luck with my fucked up face!

darkmogool@feddit.org on 18 Sep 2024 20:01 next collapse

Wait… Snapchat still exists?

sverit@lemmy.ml on 18 Sep 2024 20:44 next collapse

PSA: Can be switched off

theverge.com/…/snapchat-ai-my-selfie-feature-face…

SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.org on 18 Sep 2024 21:37 next collapse

Oh no! Another thing I don’t use turning out to be shitty.

Mac@mander.xyz on 23 Sep 2024 21:38 collapse

I honestly dont know why anyone would use this garbage app in the first place. it literally has no redeeming qualities.