Snapchat's New AI Feature Raises Privacy Concerns: Your Face Could Appear in Ads

Snapchat Can Use Images of Your Face in Ads

Snapchat has reserved the right to put its users' faces on ads and personalized sponsored content with its "My Selfie" feature. According to a report by 404 Media, if an individual uses Snapchat's "My Selfie," it means they also agree to let the app use their face in ads. With the "My Selfie" feature on Snapchat, users can take selfies with the in-app Snap camera or select images from their camera roll. After uploading a few selfies, Snapchat uses these images to understand what the user looks like. Snapchat users are then able to see themselves in "novel" AI-generated images, or even in Snaps with friends who have also opted-in. However, 404 Media reports that Snapchat reserves the right to put My Selfie users' faces in ads and even found an example of someone's likeness being used in an ad targeted to them via a Reddit post. "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." When using the feature for the first time, Snapchat also prompts the user to agree to terms that include using "you (or your likeness)" in ads. "You also acknowledge and agree that by using My Selfie, you (or your likeness) may also appear in personalized sponsored content and ads that will be visible only to you and that includes branding or other advertising content of Snap or its business partners without compensation to you," Snapchat writes in the terms. How to Stop Snapchat Using Your Face in Ads While users have to agree to Snapchat's terms that allows it to use them or their likeness in ads by default, it is possible to stop the company from doing this. Users will need to toggle the "See My Selfie in Ads" setting to "off" To see if the setting is enabled, users must select their profile photo in the top-left corner of Snapchat, tap the settings cog in the top-right corner, and then choose My Selfie. From here, users can toggle off the See My Selfie in Ads setting. "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 tells 404 Media. "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." The company tells 404 Media that it doesn't share users' data with third-party advertisers, although it may use their face in personalized ads only shown to you. However, the publication says that Snapchat 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, the company replied that "Snap currently does not use My Selfies in advertising," and that "the terms you cited simply reserve the right."

Snapchat's My Selfie Feature May Use Your Face in Ads: Here's How to Stop It

The feature lets you take a selfie to enhance Snapchat's ability to make AI images of you. It can also be used in marketing materials. Snapchat has always embraced AI, whether by releasing its own AI chatbot or its real-time AR effects that use generative AI. Most of the features are fun and harmless. However, the My Selfie feature within Snapchat automatically enrolls you into allowing your My Selfie data to be used in marketing materials. The My Selfie feature tells users of its intentions during setup, but it's pretty easy to skip over it and continue through the process. The screen explaining the feature doesn't pop up until near the end of the process, when users have already taken a selfie and given Snapchat other images. 404 Media found an example of someone's likeness being used in an advert on Reddit. "My Selfie is used to power Generative AI, Cameos, and other experiences on Snapchat that feature you, including ads," the warning reads. "By tapping Agree & Continue, you agree to the My Selfie Terms and give Snap and your Friends permission to use your likeness and My Selfies on Snapchat." The verbiage is repeated on Snap's support website. A representative for Snapchat did not immediately respond to a request for comment. You can prevent Snapchat from using your My Selfie data in ads in a few short steps. The setting is enabled by default, likely because you have to agree to the terms when setting up My Selfie to begin with. Here's how to turn it off. You can also use this section of the menu to manage your My Selfie data in other ways, including preventing people from using it in Cameos and AI snaps. For added privacy, you can also set your My Selfie data to only be usable by friends, best friends, only you, or you can customize specifically who's allowed to use it. You can also delete it from that menu if you don't want to use the feature.

Snapchat reserves right to put AI-generated images of users' faces in...

Snapchat reserves the right to put photos of its users' faces in ads as part of the terms of service of its "My Selfie" tool, which lets people and their friends create artificial intelligence-generated images that are trained on their selfies. "My Selfie is used to power Generative AI, Cameos and other experiences on Snapchat that feature you, including ads," reads a pop up in the Snapchat app. "My Selfie uses your images and information to do this." The pop up, which was reported by 404 Media, gives users the option to "delete My Selfies and change advertising or permissions preferences for" friends. A support page on Snapchat's website says that the "My Selfie" feature entails users taking selfies with the "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," according to the app. In order to disable the option, users must manually turn off the feature, which is activated by default when starting up the app. A Snapchat user took to Reddit and claimed that they spotted their own image uploaded to Snapchat and used in an ad for a site called yourdreamdegree.com. "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." Another Reddit user reported being "super surprised to see my face being featured in what looked to be an ad" for "Cameos Selfie." A Snapchat spokesperson told 404 Media that the company does "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." "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." The company said that advertisers "do not have access to Snapchatters' Gen[erative] AI data in any capacity, including My Selfies." Snapchat also said that its users' private data is protected from advertisers. "Snap currently does not use My Selfies in advertising," the company rep told 404 Media. But the company would not say how it could serve ads in the future using a user's face without giving that data to advertisers.

Snapchat's AI selfie feature puts your face in personalized ads -- here's how to turn it off

You might want to turn off the "See My Selfie in Ads" setting. Screenshot: The Verge Even though Snap may use your face in personalized ads only shown to you, the company says it doesn't share your data with third-party advertisers. "Advertisers do not have access to Snapchatters' Gen AI data in any capacity, including My Selfies," a Snap spokesperson told 404 Media. "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."