Mom alarmed to find Meta AI building her daughter’s ‘profile’ from years-old family posts. Now her request to relatives is going viral
Meta said they created the feature with the best intentions but didn't expect it to 'miss the mark.'
Kalie Robins (@kontheinside), a Utah resident, has been on Facebook since the beginning. But a recent event left her horrified and served as a wake-up call about technology. She recalled the “scary feeling” when she posted a video and watched Meta AI automatically stitch together a comprehensive dossier of her children’s information from years of her family’s social media posts and deleted photos. Robins is now demanding accountability from the tech giant, as Futurism reported on September 10, 2026.
Meta AI goes digging
It started when Robins posted an “innocent” clip of herself singing in the car with one of her daughters. The clip was cross-posted on Facebook. In suggestions, Meta AI displayed a question about the child in the back seat: “Who’s the child passenger?” It launched a horrifying trail of results that prompted Robins to question privacy while she posts on social media. “First of all, why in the hell is that even a suggested question about a minor?” Robins protested in the video.
When she clicked the prompt, Meta AI started showing information about both her children, accumulated from old posts. “It starts pulling completely separate information for each of my kids: their names, birth information, pictures, and videos of them,” Robins said. The information also included a photo of her newborn her mom posted years ago. Meta AI then also displayed a photo she claimed she deleted years ago. “I deleted this picture years ago,” Robins said. “I’m not going to pretend that I know how it works, but I know this picture has not been sitting on my page for years.” Even her relatives were left worried because they, too, had to delete their digital scrapbooks.
Creepy experience
To her utmost horror, the AI displayed another uncanny prompt: “Where does Kalie Robins live?” She clicked on it. The algorithm combed through her older posts and said it was pinpointing her house’s location. “It pieced together my information to show people where I live,” Robins said, enraged. “There was no location on that reel. I didn’t ask Facebook to build a profile of my family. I posted a video of me singing in the car with my kid.”
According to the screenshots she shared, Meta AI started compiling her daughters’ ages from family birthday posts and birth announcements, surfacing details like their birth weights, their hobbies, their favorite beaches and books, even the places where they went hiking. “It just kept going and going, and that pit in my stomach just kept getting bigger and deeper,” Robins told Futurism. “I felt this dread.”
AI went too far
Voicing her complaint to CNET, Robins said Meta never addressed the problem even after her video went viral. But afterwards, Meta told Futurism that AI can search a user’s own content and public information on the web. The company added that it created this feature so people could find more information about related topics or topics of interest, but didn’t expect it to miss the mark this way. “The feature never should have prompted the individual with questions like that, and we’ve fixed that issue,” the company clarified to the outlet.
Like Robins, 68% of consumers are either somewhat or very concerned about their online privacy, according to the IAPP Privacy and Consumer Trust Report 2023. In another Pew Research Center survey, 81% of people expressed fears regarding companies using their information in ways they are not comfortable with. 70% blatantly admitted that they don’t trust companies to make responsible decisions in how AI uses their products. As for Robins, she has switched to the TinyBeans app for posting her kids' photos, as she shared in a follow-up video.
‘File a lawsuit’
The incident unlocked new fears in the viewers, who are now hesitant to make full use of social media. Many are urging her to file a lawsuit. @jagjilly speculated, “Geez, do we all need to go back to using a camera and having the pictures developed?” @mismeliss.831 remarked, “This is so scary, actually.” @drlauravalentina suggested, “Please don’t post children online."
You can follow Kalie Robins (@kontheinside) on Instagram for parental updates.
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