What Meta’s New AI-Feature Means For User Privacy
There have been circulating claims that Meta, the parent company for Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Threads will “start reading your DMs from December 16, 2025.” have sparked concerns about user privacy.
What Meta Actually Announced
Meta said that starting from December 16, 2025, it will begin using user interactions with its AI chat features to help tailor content and ads, that includes chats with its built-in AI within Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp apps. The company announced these changes in early October 2025 and said users would be notified via in-product notifications and email well before the change takes effect.
According to Meta, the idea is to add AI-interaction data, like what topics you discuss with the AI, what you ask it, etc., to the same pool of signals (likes, follows, clicks, etc.) it already uses to decide what posts, reels and ads to show you.
What Meta Says It Will Not Do
The new policy does not grant Meta blanket permission to automatically scan or harvest private messages you exchange with friends or family. According to Meta, the contents of private messages on WhatsApp or Messenger remain protected by end-to-end encryption (E2EE). Under E2EE, only the participants of the chat, not Meta, can read the content, unless a user voluntarily submits a message to “Meta AI.” Meta has clarified that the December 16 change is about how it uses AI-chat data, not everyday DMs.
What This Means For User Privacy
If you use Meta’s AI tools (on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, etc.), then your AI-generated chats may be collected and used to shape what content and ads you see. Meta says it will not use “sensitive topic” chats (religion, health, sexual orientation, politics, etc.) for ad targeting.
However, by using AI chats as a new data signal, Meta arguably gets a deeper, more personal insight into your interests, behaviours, and maybe even attitudes depending on what you ask or talk about. To some users, this may feel more intrusive than just tracking likes or follows.
Conclusion
The alarm raised by the circulating message saying, “Meta will read every DM, photo, voice note from December 16, 2025”, is not accurate. Meta is expanding how it uses AI-related chats to influence content and ad recommendations across its platforms. This means that if you engage with Meta’s AI, what you say to the bot could shape what you see next, even if your private chats with friends remain encrypted.
