Meta announced Friday it’s rolling out an AI-powered feature that scans Facebook users’ camera galleries to suggest edits and identify photos worth posting, pushing the social media giant’s artificial intelligence capabilities into people’s private photo libraries.

How the Feature Works

The opt-in feature, now live for all Facebook users across the United States and Canada, gives Meta AI access to unpublished photos stored on users’ phones and uploads them to Meta’s cloud infrastructure for processing. The AI then proposes creative edits – collages, compilations, AI-enhanced styling, and themed collections tailored for occasions like birthdays or graduation celebrations.

Privacy Questions Mount Over Personal Data Access

The feature has sparked concerns among users and privacy advocates, particularly regarding Meta’s access to intimate personal content never intended for social sharing. Meta’s AI Terms of Use grant the company permission to “summarize image content, alter images and generate new content based on the image” while simultaneously analyzing facial features and other personal information.

Meta has stated it won’t use gallery media to improve its AI systems “unless you choose to edit that media with our AI tools or share” the content. That said, the company’s terms permit extensive photo analysis, including dates, locations, and identification of people and objects to create personalized suggestions.

Part of Meta’s Aggressive AI Push

This launch fits into Meta’s broader strategy to weave AI throughout its platforms. The company previously announced it would use publicly posted Facebook and Instagram content to train its AI models, giving EU users until May 27, 2025 to opt out. Beginning December 16, 2025, Meta will also start using AI chat interactions to personalize content and advertising without offering an opt-out option.

The camera roll feature represents Meta’s play for a fresh data stream that could provide competitive advantages in the AI race, offering insights into user behavior and connections through unpublished personal content. Users who want to disable the feature can do so in Facebook Settings under “Suggestions for sharing from camera roll,” where they can control both photo suggestions and cloud processing permissions.