Social media is literally my job. I live inside the Meta ecosystem – running ads, creating content, building funnels. So when I say this new Facebook feature raised a red flag, I really mean it.
Meta (aka Facebook) is rolling out a new feature that quietly gives itself access to your phone’s camera roll to suggest photos for Stories, collages, and posts… even if you didn’t ask it to. And yes – it’s turned ON by default.
If that makes your skin crawl, you’re not alone. Here’s what’s happening and how to turn it off.
What Is Facebook’s Camera Roll Suggestions Feature?
When you give Facebook permission to access your device’s photos (which most people do when posting), it can now use that access to scan your photo metadata and surface image suggestions while you browse.
This includes:
- When a photo or video was taken
- Whether it’s been marked as a favorite
- The type of photo (panorama, front-facing, time lapse, etc.)
If you’ve enabled it (and many users have without realizing it), Facebook uses this metadata to suggest what to post next.
Why This Is a Problem
You might think this only happens when you’re actively creating a post, but nope. Facebook can make suggestions from your camera roll while you’re simply browsing the app.
That’s a major privacy issue – especially since it’s easy to overlook that this feature exists at all. You must manually disable it if you don’t want Facebook combing through your photos in the background.
How to Turn Off Facebook’s Camera Roll Suggestions
To disable camera roll suggestions:
- Open the Facebook app and go to the top of your Feed.
- Tap Create Story.
- In the top right corner, tap the gear icon ⚙️ (settings).
- Tap Camera Roll Settings.
- Toggle “Get camera roll suggestions when you’re browsing Facebook” to OFF.
Note: If you use Facebook on multiple devices, this setting applies to all of them. You’ll also want to double-check your device’s photo permissions in your iPhone or Android settings to make sure Facebook only has the access you’re comfortable with. (Read the instructions straight from Facebook here.)
Want Even More Control?
You can also limit Facebook’s photo access directly in your device settings:
- On iPhone: Go to Settings > Facebook > Photos and choose “None” or “Selected Photos” instead of “All Photos.”
- On Android: Go to Settings > Apps > Facebook > Permissions > Files and Media, and adjust accordingly.
Some Parting Thoughts…
As someone who works on Facebook and Instagram daily – inside Meta’s Business Suite, Ads Manager, and creative tools – I’m all for innovation. But not at the cost of our digital privacy.
I’ve personally turned this feature off and deleted the Facebook app from my phone. You get to choose how much access these platforms have – and that starts with staying informed.
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