Snapchat’s AI selfie feature puts your face in personalized ads — here’s how to turn it off

If you’ve tried out Snapchat’s AI-generated selfies, you might want to double-check a setting that lets Snap use your face in “personalized sponsored content and ads,” as spotted by 404 Media.

The feature, called My Selfie, lets you and your friends create AI-generated images of yourself based on photos you share with Snapchat. When using the feature for the first time, Snapchat prompts you to agree to terms that include using “you (or your likeness)” in ads:

You also acknowledge and agree that by using My Selfie, you (or your likeness) may also appear in personalized sponsored content and ads that will be visible only to you and that includes branding or other advertising content of Snap or its business partners without compensation to you. 

While you can toggle the “See My Selfie in Ads” setting to off, 404 Media reports that it’s enabled by default once you agree to Snap’s terms (The Verge was also able to confirm this).

To see if you have the setting enabled, select your profile photo in the top-left corner of Snapchat, tap the settings cog in the top-right corner, and then choose My Selfie. From here, toggle off the See My Selfie in Ads setting.

Even though Snap may use your face in personalized ads only shown to you, the company says it doesn’t share your data with third-party advertisers.

“Advertisers do not have access to Snapchatters’ Gen AI data in any capacity, including My Selfies nor do they have access to Snapchatters’ private data, including Memories, that would enable them to create an AI generated image of an individual Snapchatter,” Snapchat spokesperson Maggie Cherneff told The Verge. Snap also currently doesn’t use My Selfies in advertising, Cherneff added.

Update, September 17th: Added a statement from Snapchat.