Meta has quietly introduced a way for Australians to stop the tech giant from training its AI on their user data, but the company never announced it, leaving the choice effectively hidden for more than a year.

In short:

Meta has quietly introduced a way for Australians to stop it from training its AI on their user data, but the company never announced the change.

An “objection” form has been available for more than a year, but digital rights advocates believe Meta does not want people to find it.

What’s next?

Advice on how to opt out is slowly spreading as Meta users share information among themselves.

The objection form has been available in the EU since 2024, but the ABC has confirmed that no separate announcement was made when it was added in Australia a year later.

Nor have there been any reports of users being notified directly by Meta.

Meta has not shared why it made the decision, and the relevant sections of the Australian Privacy Act have not changed in recent years.

One possible explanation is that the question of how the law applies is not entirely settled.