In Bluesky, they also use your data to train AI, even though the company claims not to do so.

Bluesky, the decentralized social network, is at the center of controversy following the recent publication of a dataset on Hugging Face, a community platform for artificial intelligence.

Bluesky DOWNLOAD

According to 404 Media, the dataset contained one million posts along with user information, obtained by researcher Daniel van Strien through a technique known as scraping, using the Firehose API. Van Strien justified the use of the data to “develop artificial intelligence models, analyze trends in social networks, and study posting patterns,” although he ended up deleting the dataset after realizing that “this approach violated the principles of transparency and consent in data collection.”

The dataset included sensitive metadata, such as users’ decentralized identifiers (DIDs) and specific search tools, which raised concerns for many about the possible misuse of such information. Although Bluesky assures that it does not train AI models with its users’ data, it admits that “it cannot enforce this policy outside of our systems” and that the decision lies with external developers. The company also promises to continue working with engineers and lawyers to address the issue.

Brief update on our ongoing efforts to allow users to specify consent (or not) for AI training: 🧵

— Bluesky (@bsky.app) November 27, 2024, 2:52

And the open and decentralized nature of Bluesky, based on the Authenticated Transfer (AT) protocol, facilitates third parties to access content publicly. An approach that contrasts with platforms like Twitter, where Elon Musk restricted and increased the cost of access to its API to supposedly curb indiscriminate scraping.

Bluesky DOWNLOAD