Meta uses Meta AI chats to target ads on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp
Since December 2025, Meta has used Meta AI chats to personalize ads across its apps, except in the EU, UK and South Korea.
Since December 2025, Meta has used people’s conversations with its Meta AI chatbot to personalize ads and content on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. The privacy company Proton reported the change and cites Meta’s own October 2025 announcement of it. Proton says the policy applies in nearly every region. The exceptions are the European Union, the United Kingdom and South Korea.
What the change covers
Proton says the update reaches beyond chat text. It lets Meta use AI interactions across its products for ad targeting, including:
- Meta smart glasses, which collect photos, video and voice recordings.
- Meta Vibes, an AI video feed that tracks what users watch, skip and replay.
- The Meta AI image generator, including prompts and uploaded photos.
Proton argues that chat data is more personal than likes or comments, which are public actions. It cites research finding that people speak more openly in one-on-one conversations with AI. It says users often describe their situations in detail and talk through decisions step by step.
Limits on opting out
Users can adjust ad settings under Settings, then Accounts Center, then Ad preferences. Proton says these controls are limited.
Even with “Less-personalized ads” turned on, Meta can still use a person’s age, gender and location to show ads. It can also use the content they view and how they interact with ads. Proton says preferences for ad topics can reset when a user engages with new ad categories, so the settings need regular review.
A paid subscription turns off personalized ads. Proton says it does not guarantee that Meta stops collecting data. Users whose Facebook and Instagram accounts are not linked must change the settings in each account separately.
A private mode on WhatsApp
Meta is also promoting a separate Incognito Chat mode for Meta AI in WhatsApp, Malwarebytes reported on May 15, 2026. The mode runs on a system Meta calls Private Processing. Messages are not saved and disappear by default.
Malwarebytes, citing BBC News, says the chats are text-only for now. They run in a sandboxed environment, separate from WhatsApp’s end-to-end encrypted messages between people. Meta is also preparing “Side Chat,” which would bring Meta AI into other WhatsApp conversations using the same system.
Malwarebytes cautions that “‘incognito’ and ‘private’ are marketing words, while end-to-end encryption is a technical guarantee.” It advises users to share in these chats only what they are comfortable entrusting to Meta.
Encryption removed on Instagram
On May 8, 2026, Meta removed optional end-to-end encryption from Instagram direct messages. Users who had turned it on were urged to download backups of their encrypted conversations.
Instagram had offered encrypted messaging as an opt-in feature since late 2023. It was never on by default. Malwarebytes says the setting sat several taps deep inside each conversation’s settings.
Malwarebytes now advises users to assume Instagram DMs are readable by Meta. It says the messages could also be reached under legal orders or in a breach.
What the company says
In WhatsApp's announcement of Incognito Chat, Meta says the mode is "truly private" and that "no one can read your conversation, not even us." Explaining why it dropped encrypted Instagram DMs, Meta said "very few people" used the feature and that a separate encrypted system added complexity. Our sources include no Meta comment on using AI chats for ads.
Sources
- Meta is using private AI chats for ads: what you can do, Proton
- Meta's confusing new approach to chat privacy, Malwarebytes, May 15, 2026
Want to rely on these companies less? What you can use instead