Facebook is rolling out a new feature that suggests edits and collages for photos that remain on a user’s phone. The feature asks people to opt in. If a person allows it, the app will upload selected images to Meta Cloud so the company can generate creative ideas. The rollout covers users in the United States and Canada.
How it works
When a user opens the Facebook app, a permission dialog may appear. The box asks for permission to allow cloud processing so the app can offer ideas like collages, recaps, and AI restyling. If a person taps allow the app will upload images from the device camera roll on an ongoing basis. Meta says that suggestions are only shown to the person who opted in and that the feature can be turned off at any time.
The app puts the new controls under Settings, then Preferences, then Camera roll sharing suggestions. There are two toggles. One toggle control determines whether Facebook suggests photos while a person is browsing. The other toggle controls cloud processing, which enables AI edits that are made in the Meta cloud. Users who do not want to share private images can keep both toggles off.
Privacy and control
Meta says photos that are uploaded for this feature will not be used for ad targeting and will not be used to train its models unless the user edits or shares the photos on Meta platforms. The company also notes that when a person agrees to Meta AI terms, the company may analyze image content facial features, dates, and objects to produce suggestions. Those terms give Facebook the right to summarise, modify, and generate new content based on a processed image.
Several privacy and security outlets raised concerns earlier this year when the test began. Reporters and researchers pointed out that the feature requires ongoing uploads and that the limits on future use of the photos are set by a legal agreement. Some tools will delete cloud copies after a time, but critics say that automatic uploads expand the set of data Meta can access. It was noted that users should check the settings and opt out if they do not want their camera roll scanned.
Meta explains that the suggestions are meant to help people find useful ways to share memories. The company says the feature will surface ideas for personal recaps, birthday themes, and other edits that may be useful when a person wants to post a memory. Meta also says it will not use these private images to train its AI models unless a person shares the edited image or otherwise gives explicit permission. That distinction matters to people who worry about how private media may be used at scale.