German Regulator Questions eBay's Plans To Train AI On User Data
German data privacy regulators say they've already received many complaints about eBay's AI training plans, citing a lack of clarity and a need for more specific information in order to comply with transparency requirements.
The State Commissioner for Data Protection and the Right to Access to Files of Brandenburg issued the following press release today, referencing changes eBay recently announced in a Privacy Policy update (translated by Google).
eBay GmbH recently informed its platform users via email that it intends to use artificial intelligence (AI) in the future. Personal data will also be used for the purposes of AI development and training.
In its email, the company announced an amended privacy policy. This will take effect on April 21, 2025. We have already received numerous complaints regarding this.
The State Commissioner sees a need for clarification regarding the wording of the company's current data protection policy. It is currently not sufficiently clear which personal data of users will be used. The exact purposes of the intended AI training remain unclear, as does the question of who is allowed to use the data.
Furthermore, there is a lack of information about which AI models will be used. In our opinion, the requirements for transparency regarding the planned data processing have not yet been sufficiently met.
State Commissioner Dagmar Hartge went on to recommend that since the use of training data cannot be reversed, users should object and use the functionality eBay has provided to opt out.
"If users want to prevent eBay from using their personal data for the purposes of developing and training AI models, they should object to this data processing."
German eBay users can find the opt out information here: https://accountsettings.ebay.de/ai-preferences
However, this new policy doesn't just apply to users on eBay.de - the privacy policy was updated for the US, UK and other localized eBay sites at the same time and all versions contain the same new verbiage about user data being utilized for AI training purposes.
Liz Morton
US users can opt out here, UK users can opt out here, and users in other locations are encouraged to find the Privacy Policy link at the bottom of most eBay pages and navigate to the opt out page from the AI section for your specific localized marketplace.
What do you think of eBay's plans to train AI on user data? Let us know in the comments below!
