Twitch wants your content for Amazon AI training. Here’s how to opt out
Brief
The Dutch Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (AP) has advised Twitch users to opt out of sharing data with Amazon AI.
Twitch launched as a live-video platform and is currently owned by Amazon. Its core product is live broadcasting with a built-in chat culture: streamers broadcast gameplay, commentary, performances or other live content while viewers interact in real time.
Twitch is one of the world’s largest livestreaming platforms, with millions of people broadcasting and watching content every month.
Last week we learned that Twitch allows Amazon to use content from its platform to train generative AI models, with the setting enabled by default. Chief Product Officer Mike Minton said during an interview :
“If it’s opt-in, nobody would opt in. That’s the honest answer. So, it’s going to be on by default.”
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Twitch wants your content for Amazon AI training. Here’s how to opt out
The Dutch Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (AP) has advised Twitch users to opt out of sharing data with Amazon AI.
Twitch launched as a live-video platform and is currently owned by Amazon. Its core product is live broadcasting with a built-in chat culture: streamers broadcast gameplay, commentary, performances or other live content while viewers interact in real time.
Twitch is one of the world’s largest livestreaming platforms, with millions of people broadcasting and watching content every month.
Last week we learned that Twitch allows Amazon to use content from its platform to train generative AI models, with the setting enabled by default. Chief Product Officer Mike Minton said during an interview :
“If it’s opt-in, nobody would opt in. That’s the honest answer. So, it’s going to be on by default.”
So, to get this straight: they know users don’t want it, yet users are opted in by default and they make it difficult to opt out.
The AP argues that:
“Live streams on Twitch show the gamer’s face, voice and name, and often include images of a private space, such as a bedroom. This constitutes personal data. In the case of facial images, this even involves sensitive personal data. Once these data are stored in Amazon’s AI systems, they cannot simply be removed. As a result, users lose control over their data.
Users’ chats and text messages also serve as training material for Amazon.”
Obviously, Twitch users were outraged when they learned about the assumed consent. The setting is in the Streamer Dashboard under Settings Security and Privacy , near the bottom of the page. That is the basis for reporting that it was difficult to find.
Wait, it gets worse. Ars Technica says the AI training itself isn’t new. What’s new is the option to opt out. That setting arrived more than two years after a company executive confirmed that Amazon was using Twitch content for AI training.
Twitch wants your content for Amazon AI training. Here’s how to opt out
The Dutch Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (AP) has advised Twitch users to opt out of sharing data with Amazon AI.
Twitch launched as a live-video platform and is currently owned by Amazon. Its core product is live broadcasting with a built-in chat culture: streamers broadcast gameplay, commentary, performances or other live content while viewers interact in real time.
Twitch is one of the world’s largest livestreaming platforms, with millions of people broadcasting and watching content every month.
Last week we learned that Twitch allows Amazon to use content from its platform to train generative AI models, with the setting enabled by default. Chief Product Officer Mike Minton said during an interview :
“If it’s opt-in, nobody would opt in. That’s the honest answer. So, it’s going to be on by default.”
So, to get this straight: they know users don’t want it, yet users are opted in by default and they make it difficult to opt out.
The AP argues that:
“Live streams on Twitch show the gamer’s face, voice and name, and often include images of a private space, such as a bedroom. This constitutes personal data. In the case of facial images, this even involves sensitive personal data. Once these data are stored in Amazon’s AI systems, they cannot simply be removed. As a result, users lose control over their data.
Users’ chats and text messages also serve as training material for Amazon.”
Obviously, Twitch users were outraged when they learned about the assumed consent. The setting is in the Streamer Dashboard under Settings Security and Privacy , near the bottom of the page. That is the basis for reporting that it was difficult to find.
Wait, it gets worse.