It’s been reported that Meta and analytics firms are quietly turning private AI chats into advertising fuel, with little user control and growing legal concerns.
From 16 December 2025, Meta will begin using users’ conversations with Meta AI to personalise ads across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. There’s no opt-out, though the UK, EU, and South Korea are excluded for now. Meta claims sensitive topics like health and politics won’t be used.
Also, startup Profound says it has access to over 150 million real AI chats to help brands analyse how they appear in chatbot results. Experts believe the data comes from browser extensions that log chat content without clear user consent, which is a claim that Profound denies.
Privacy professionals warn that vague permissions like “read all data on websites” may breach UK GDPR and PECR rules, especially when users aren’t fully informed. Similar practices by firms like Onavo and Jumpshot have previously triggered regulatory action.
Businesses should treat AI chats as sensitive data, restrict browser extensions, and demand transparency from any vendor using AI interaction data.
