THERE ARE STEPS YOU CAN TAKE TO PROTECT YOUR INFORMATION. LAST WEEK, LINKEDIN STARTED ACCESSING THE USER PROFILES ON ITS WEBSITE TO TRAIN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. ESSENTIALLY, LINKEDIN GRANTED ITSELF THE PERMISSION TO USE YOUR INFORMATION. BUT HERE’S THE GOOD NEWS YOU CAN OPT OUT OF THIS FEATURE IF YOU HAVE A LINKEDIN ACCOUNT. GO TO YOUR PROFILE PICTURE ON THE TOP OF YOUR SCREEN. CLICK THE DROP DOWN MENU AND SELECT SETTINGS AND PRIVACY. ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE NEXT SCREEN, SELECT DATA PRIVACY. IN THE DATA PRIVACY MENU, LOOK FOR DATA FOR GENERATIVE AI IMPROVEMENT. IT’S THE SIXTH ITEM DOWN FROM THE TOP. SELECT IT AND THEN SET THE SLIDER FOR USE MY DATA FOR TRAINING CONTENT CREATION AI MODELS TO OFF. HERE’S THE BAD NEWS THOUGH. WHATEVER INFORMATION YOU HAD ON LINKEDIN BEFORE FLIPPING THAT SWITCH TO OFF, IT’S ALREADY BEEN USED FOLKS, BUT YOU CAN’T PROTECT YOUR INFORMATION GOING FORWARD BY FLIPPING THAT SWITCH. LINKEDIN SAYS IT’S USING AI RIGHT NOW TO CREATE NEW TOOLS TO HELP PEOPLE FIND JOBS THROUGH ITS NETWORK.
X changed its terms of service to let its AI train on everyone’s posts. Now users are up in arms
Updated: 9:40 PM EDT Oct 21, 2024
When X unveiled its newest terms of service, which go into effect on Nov. 15, users quickly picked up on one change.”By submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through the Services, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to make your Content available to the rest of the world,” the terms of service said, which includes the right to analyze any of that content “including, for example, for use with and training of our machine learning and artificial intelligence models, whether generative or another type.”Video above: LinkedIn is using your data to train AI. This is how to opt outBasically, by continuing to use the platform, users will agree that X can use their data to train its AI models.Using content to train AI has become a major issue as the technology booms. On X, artists and others in creative roles are fretting about their work being used – not just on X – to train computers that could someday replace human creators entirely. Other X users say they are concerned about personal information in their tweets being used that way. Some users said on the site they have already begun deleting photographs of themselves from their feeds.And if users have any issue with those terms, they may end up in a federal courtroom that is favored by conservative activists and is already presiding over two lawsuits involving Musk-owned X.According to the update, all disputes related to the terms will be brought to the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas or state courts in Tarrant County, Texas.Tarrant County is more than 100 miles away from X’s new headquarters outside of Austin, Texas.X’s terms said any users who continue to use their products or services on or after Nov. 15 would be agreeing to the updated terms.Changes to data privacyGrok, X’s AI chatbot, has already been embroiled in controversy, from spreading false information about the 2024 election to generating violent, graphic fake images of famous politicians. Companies from Google to Microsoft have similarly come under fire for sometimes weird, completely off-base AI tools.Before the most recent terms of service update, X users could opt out of sharing data by going to “settings,” then “privacy and safety.” Under the “data sharing and personalization” header, there is a tab for “Grok,” where users can uncheck the box that allows the platform to use their data for AI training.But it’s not clear whether X’s new terms of service take away that option. X can now license all the content on the platform, including using it in its machine learning and artificial intelligence models.While such broad licensing with few limitations is not uncommon for a social media platform, Alex Fink, CEO and founder of Otherweb, an AI-based news reading platform that targets misinformation, told CNN that what makes X unique is that its new terms “remove any ambiguity” in contrast to other platforms that don’t spell out their intentions.Before, X said posts from private accounts would not be used to train Grok. But the language in the new terms of service does not differentiate between the types of accounts.But only time will tell if you may still be able to opt out, despite the new terms. Fink said it’s fairly common for a company’s legal terms to give it more leeway than its own menu options allow.CNN’s Clare Duffy contributed to this report.
When X unveiled its newest terms of service, which go into effect on Nov. 15, users quickly picked up on one change.
“By submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through the Services, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to make your Content available to the rest of the world,” the terms of service said, which includes the right to analyze any of that content “including, for example, for use with and training of our machine learning and artificial intelligence models, whether generative or another type.”
Video above: LinkedIn is using your data to train AI. This is how to opt out
Basically, by continuing to use the platform, users will agree that X can use their data to train its AI models.
Using content to train AI has become a major issue as the technology booms. On X, artists and others in creative roles are fretting about their work being used – not just on X – to train computers that could someday replace human creators entirely. Other X users say they are concerned about personal information in their tweets being used that way. Some users said on the site they have already begun deleting photographs of themselves from their feeds.
And if users have any issue with those terms, they may end up in a federal courtroom that is favored by conservative activists and is already presiding over two lawsuits involving Musk-owned X.
According to the update, all disputes related to the terms will be brought to the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas or state courts in Tarrant County, Texas.
Tarrant County is more than 100 miles away from X’s new headquarters outside of Austin, Texas.
X’s terms said any users who continue to use their products or services on or after Nov. 15 would be agreeing to the updated terms.
Changes to data privacy
Grok, X’s AI chatbot, has already been embroiled in controversy, from spreading false information about the 2024 election to generating violent, graphic fake images of famous politicians. Companies from Google to Microsoft have similarly come under fire for sometimes weird, completely off-base AI tools.
Before the most recent terms of service update, X users could opt out of sharing data by going to “settings,” then “privacy and safety.” Under the “data sharing and personalization” header, there is a tab for “Grok,” where users can uncheck the box that allows the platform to use their data for AI training.
But it’s not clear whether X’s new terms of service take away that option. X can now license all the content on the platform, including using it in its machine learning and artificial intelligence models.
While such broad licensing with few limitations is not uncommon for a social media platform, Alex Fink, CEO and founder of Otherweb, an AI-based news reading platform that targets misinformation, told CNN that what makes X unique is that its new terms “remove any ambiguity” in contrast to other platforms that don’t spell out their intentions.
Before, X said posts from private accounts would not be used to train Grok. But the language in the new terms of service does not differentiate between the types of accounts.
But only time will tell if you may still be able to opt out, despite the new terms. Fink said it’s fairly common for a company’s legal terms to give it more leeway than its own menu options allow.
CNN’s Clare Duffy contributed to this report.
