Your Privacy and AI Tools

Video credit: Jumping On The AI Self-Portrait Trend? Here’s What Cyber Security Experts Are Warning. – posted by NBC News on YouTube

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Have you tried using AI photo or video editing apps?
- Yes! They are so fun!
- No... How do they work?
That’s true! These tools are easy and enjoyable to use. You and your friends might be having a lot of fun with them, but you may want to consider the potential privacy concerns, for example, how your photos are stored and used by the app.
It's really simple to use these apps. Users only need to upload images of themselves, and they can edit the photos using AI. However, privacy concerns may arise as it may be unclear how the app is using users’ photos.
Do you read the privacy policy page before you download a new app?
- Of course! I always go through it.
- Depending on what kind of app it is.
- Well... it’s too long and I usually don’t read them.
That’s good practice! The privacy policy page outlines how the app collects, uses, stores, and shares your personal and sensitive data. By reading it, you can ensure that your data is handled securely and in a way that aligns with your expectations.
it may be worthwhile to read the policy page consistently! Privacy policies can serve as a legal agreement between you and the app developer. By reading it, you can hold the developer accountable for any breaches or misuse of your data.
You may want to read the page next time. Not reading the privacy policy can lead to unintended consequences, such as having your data collected, shared, or used in ways you didn't anticipate. It’s always a good idea to safeguard your data in the digital world.
Are you aware of how your photos and videos can be used after uploading them to these apps?
- For sure! That’s why I won’t upload any photos that I don’t want to share.
- Oh I thought my photos will be deleted after I finish editing them?
- Wait a minute... is there a chance that they are not using my photos as I intended?
It’s great that you are aware of it! You are right, apps may collect metadata and usage data related to your photos, such as the camera model, location, and editing choices. This data can be used for analytics, app improvement, and marketing purposes. For AI photo editing apps, some of them may even employ facial recognition technology to identify faces in photos.
This might be what the tools have promised you in the user agreement, but you may also want to check if the photos you upload will be used to train and improve their AI models that contribute to better image recognition, editing, or enhancement capabilities in the future.
Of course there is! Especially for AI photo editing apps, some of them may use the photos you upload to train and improve their AI models, contributing to better image recognition, editing, or enhancement capabilities in the future.

Explore

Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools have been developing rapidly over the last decade. AI is now applied in different industries, from e-commerce to healthcare, robotics to education. The emergence of publicly available Generative AI (GenAI) tools in 2022 has further accelerated the development of AI applications in business and daily life. In November 2022, Open AI released ChatGPT, a chatbot that uses Large Language Models (LLM) to generate text based on prompts inputted by the user. In December 2022, social media platforms were flooded with AI-generated self-portraits made by Lensa, an AI photo and video editing app that relies on a deep learning model called Stable Diffusion. These new technologies have changed the way people work and interact, but they also raise privacy concerns.

One major privacy concern regarding the use of GenAI tools is how data is used after being inputted into these tools. Often, users forget how much privacy and security they are giving up when signing up to use an online service. This also applies to using GenAI tools. Just like when opening a bank account, users have to share a lot of personal information when using Gen AI tools. For example, a user’s phone number and email address may be required when setting up an account on these tools. Some AI providers may claim ownership or usage rights over the data users input, such as text and images, for research, advertising, or even training purposes for future AI models. This means any data you input, whether photos of yourself or your friends or snippets of your research paper, may be stored and used by AI providers. Therefore, as users, it is crucial to understand how the information shared with GenAI tool providers is stored and used.

Think before you ink

The following advice from WIRED can help you consider privacy issues while you use Gen AI tools.

Always check the privacy policy page before use – You should make sure the data shared with these tools are used and stored in a way that aligns with your expectations.
Watch What You Share – You should be careful not to share any personal or sensitive information with GenAI tools. Even though some GenAI providers may not use your input to refine their products, your data is still subject to data breaches if hackers target these tools.
Change the Settings – Even when you are okay with the privacy policy, you should avoid oversharing. Remember to explore the privacy and security controls you get inside your AI tools of choice. This helps protect yourself if there are data breaches.

Another piece of advice you may consider is not using GenAI tools if you feel uncomfortable sharing your data with them; whether or not to use GenAI is always your personal choice.

Discuss

The Digital Tattoo Project encourages critical discussion on topics surrounding digital citizenship and online identity. There are no correct answers and every person will view these topics from a different perspective. Be sure to complete the previous sections before answering the one or both questions below.

Do you use GenAI? What are some steps that you can take to protect your privacy when using AI tools?
What types of data would you be comfortable inputting into a Gen AI tool? What types of inputs would you avoid sharing if you knew it could be stored, used, and shared?

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