Before we explain how to withdraw consent from Meta data mining, let’s remind you of a dubious accolade Saffas have. We South Africans have the highest screen time of any nation in the world. According to Electronics Hub, of the more than 4 billion smartphone users in the world, South Africans spend 56.8% of their day – that’s 9 hours and 25 minutes total – on our screens.
And another reason you should absolutely withdraw consent from Meta data mining is the fact that South Africans spend the most time of anyone in the world on social media, too. Of our daily screen time, 22.6% of that is spent doom scrolling on social media. That’s 3 hours and 40 minutes Meta is data mining your details from Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and other sites …
Now, a very insightful opinion piece on BusinessLive explains how we can all withdraw consent from Meta data mining. Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp are free services. Therefore, as compensation for these no-cost products, Meta mines a variety of data from its user’s profiles.
This can include Your location, photos, posts, video, purchase history, contacts (phone numbers and email addresses), as well as your age, interests and gender. When you agree to Meta’s terms of use, you consent to the company collecting and using your data. In truth, Meta is one vast data mining project.
You’ve probably heard the (paraphrased) saying: “If you’re not being sold anything, you are the product.” This rings true on all Meta platforms. The company’s algorithms simply want to match advertisers with consumers and feed ads directly to you. For the privilege of this extraordinary marketing outlet, advertising saw Meta’s revenue in 2023 jump to $135 billion.
So, what’s the catch? Meta has created the Llama III artificial intelligence (AI) assistant, which is only available in select countries: Australia, Canada, USA, Ghana, Jamaica, Malawi, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Singapore, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. Each time you ask the blue circle something Meta’s AI learns something new about you and gets stronger as far as Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) goes.
HOW TO WITHDRAW CONSENT
If any of this creeps you out, you can withdraw consent from Meta data mining, according to the Protection of Personal Information Act. The form to do so is buried deep within Meta’s privacy centre and takes plenty of effort to find and complete. Nevertheless, Go to Meta’s generative AI page and scroll all the way down to the third last paragraph. Click click on Learn more, submit requests here, and fill out the form. Good luck, and let us know how it goes …
ARE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT YOUR DATA?
Let us know by clicking on the comment tab below or by emailing [email protected]. You can also send a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211. Don’t forget to follow @TheSAnews on X and The South African on Facebook for the latest social media updates.