Meta's new image generator sparks privacy fears by tapping public Instagram photos without consent

Meta rolled out Muse Image this week, a generative AI feature embedded across its apps that creates original images, retouches photos, and produces bespoke advertising content. While the tool offers utility for creators, one function has ignited immediate backlash: the ability to generate AI images by pulling from public Instagram accounts without the account holder's knowledge or agreement.

The privacy problem#

The generator allows anyone to reference a public Instagram profile and incorporate that person's photographs into AI-created content. Only accounts marked private and those owned by users under 18 receive automatic protection from this feature. The friction-free process leaves room for concern on multiple fronts. People rarely realize their public photos can be repurposed in this way, receive no notification when it happens, and have no means to track misuse. Manipulating people's images without consent creates obvious pathways for harassment, identity theft, impersonation, and unwanted alterations to someone's likeness.

How to disable the feature#

Users worried about their photos can restrict access through Instagram's privacy settings:

• Open your profile and tap the three-line menu icon
• Navigate to "Sharing and reuse"
• Find "Allow people to create with and reuse your content"
• Disable the toggle for both posts and reels

Broader context#

Meta's move reflects a wider trend of AI becoming woven into social platforms as companies race to ship new generative capabilities. Privacy advocates argue the industry needs stronger guardrails and clearer disclosure about how users' visual and personal data flows into these systems.

Public concern about AI development already runs deep. A Pew Research Center survey found 35% of Americans express more concern than enthusiasm about artificial intelligence's expanding role in society.

Meta's own history amplifies distrust. In 2019, the Federal Trade Commission levied a $5 billion fine against Facebook for breaching a prior consent order—specifically for misrepresenting the control users had over personal information. That penalty followed the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which the political firm harvested data on roughly 87 million Facebook users through a quiz application, a practice enabled by the platform's developer policies that let apps harvest friend lists without explicit permission.