‘Reuters’ claims the tracking tool could capture emails and chats from non-US employees. Reuters claims that a mouse-tracking program for Meta employees could violate strict EU privacy rules. If you recall, the news organization reported in April that the company would capture keystrokes, mouse movements, and clicks from its U.S. employees to train its artificial intelligence models.
Meta confirmed the program to Woozad, with a spokesperson telling us that the company is “launching an internal tool that will capture this type of input on certain applications” because it needs real-world examples of people completing everyday tasks on computers. NOW, Reuters reports that the program could be broader in scope than Meta had revealed and could capture non-U.S. data in the process.
The company reportedly admitted in question-and-answer documents provided to employees that the tool, called the Model Capability Initiative (MCI), would capture the content of emails or messages sent to or from its U.S. staff, regardless of the sender’s or recipient’s origin. “If a colleague based in the United States activates the tool while chatting or emailing with someone outside the United States, this activity will be captured,” Meta wrote in the document.
Meta spokesperson Dave Arnold told Reuters that the company informed non-US employees that the tool was being deployed to the computers of US colleagues with whom they can email or chat. Arnold also said that this company “carefully considered and mitigated potential privacy risks during the development and deployment” of the tool, and that it “is committed to complying with applicable laws and regulations.”
A legal expert said Reuters, however, even limited capture of EU employee data “could put Meta in violation of EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules.” Under the GDPR, businesses must have a legal basis for collecting personal data and must disclose what they collect.
Reuters also says in its new report that MCI tracks data from more than 200 apps and websites for the Meta program. Employees reportedly complained to the company that the tool consumed so much data that those with a monthly quota saw their quotas consumed in just a few days.
This is just one of their complaints against MCI. Meta employees have expressed disapproval of the program since its launch, with some expressing concern that they were helping train their potential replacements. Some employees even distributed flyers asking their colleagues to sign a petition protesting the program.
