Meta halts worker tracking for AI training due to privacy fears
Meta has paused a new companywide program that tracks its employees’ computer use due to internal frustration.
The program was launched just two months ago as part of Meta’s effort to collect data on how people use computers, including mouse clicks and keystrokes, that can be used to train artificial intelligence (AI) models.
This was immediately lamented by employees whose every online action at work must be tracked and recorded, but who are also concerned about where the data goes and how it will be protected.
Meta shut down the program on Monday after realizing that some of the collected data was available to anyone within the company.
A Meta spokesperson confirmed to the BBC that the programme, called the Model Talent Initiative (MCI) internally, has been “paused for now” while the company investigates the matter.
“We currently have no indication that any data was improperly accessed by Meta employees,” the spokesperson added.
The pause comes after weeks of backlash from workers at the company led by billionaire Mark Zuckerberg over being tracked at work.
In its initial response to workers’ frustration, illustrated in part by a petition signed by nearly 2,000 Meta workers demanding the cancellation of the MCI program, Meta said it would allow workers to not be tracked for up to 30 minutes at a time.
“This was just an attempt at damage control,” a current employee told the BBC. The person requested that his identity not be disclosed.
Another Meta employee, who asked to remain anonymous, said many technical employees within the company were open to the idea of improving AI models and becoming more competitive in a space dominated by Anthropic and OpenAI, but the fact that monitoring was “imposed on us, there was no consent” made people angry.
“I’ve never seen morale this bad here,” the employee said.
In addition to the monitoring program, frustration at Meta has also increased as Meta has made massive layoffs and reorganized many employees and their work around AI initiatives; that the company has spent up to $145bn (£109bn) this year alone.
Even the employees He openly insulted the management, external According to a report in Wired, in an internal meeting about AI-driven changes.
While Meta has long had a reputation in the tech industry as a company that reorganizes internal teams around new projects, one person who recently left Meta after several years said the changes and spending to keep up with AI felt like “chasing its tail.”
“The direction this company is heading is depressing,” the former employee said. “It’s exhausting and demoralizing.”
