Meta hit with AI privacy backlash on two fronts: invasive chatbot prompts and biometric training-data lawsuit

Meta is fixing Meta AI suggested prompts after a viral video showed the chatbot compiling invasive questions about a user's children, while a new proposed class action alleges Facebook and Instagram photos were used without consent to build faceprints and…

On 2026-09-11, Meta faced scrutiny over two AI privacy issues. First, after Instagram user Kalie Robins showed Meta AI suggesting 'Who is the child passenger?' beneath a video with her child — and then piecing together her daughters' ages and location details from her and relatives' posts and surfacing photos, including one the user claims she deleted years ago — Meta said it 'missed the mark' and has fixed the issue, adding that responses are based on information the user already has access to. Meta AI is embedded in Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. Second, a proposed class action filed in federal court in Chicago alleges Meta extracted biometric data from Facebook and Instagram photos without notice or consent to develop the unreleased NameTag face-recognition system for smart glasses and to train generative models Emu and Muse Image. Plaintiffs invoke Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act, seeking $5,000 per intentional or $1,000 per negligent violation, with a class that could number in the millions dating back to September 2021. NameTag code was found embedded in the Meta glasses AI companion app, which had been downloaded more than 50 million times before the code's removal. Meta calls the suit without merit and says it is not building a universal face database. The company previously paid $650 million to settle an Illinois biometric class action in 2020 and $1.4 billion to Texas in 2024, and in July 2026 pulled an Instagram AI deepfake feature after backlash.

• Meta AI suggested the prompt 'Who is the child passenger?' beneath an Instagram video posted by user Kalie Robins featuring her child
• The chatbot compiled children's ages and location details from the user's and relatives' posts and surfaced photos, including one the user says was deleted years ago
• Meta said it 'missed the mark,' has fixed the issue, and says responses are based on information the user already has access to
• Meta AI is embedded in Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger
• A proposed class action filed in federal court in Chicago alleges Meta extracted biometric data from Facebook and Instagram photos without notice or consent to develop the unreleased NameTag face-recognition system for smart glasses and to…
• The suit invokes Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act, seeking $5,000 per intentional or $1,000 per negligent violation, with a class that could number in the millions dating back to September 2021
• NameTag code was found embedded in the Meta glasses AI companion app, which had been downloaded more than 50 million times before the code's removal
• Meta's prior biometric settlements include $650 million in Illinois (2020) and $1.4 billion in Texas (2024)