Mark Zuckerberg · Meta · Facebook · Instagram · The Guardian Technology
Meta pauses employee tracker for AI teaching amid privacy concerns
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◌ Single Source
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has paused a program that tracked employees’ computer activity amid data privacy concerns and a staff backlash.
Key facts
- Zuckerberg is pouring vast sums into an AI drive at Meta and is spending up to $145bn (£110bn) at the company in capital expenditure this year, with much of it going on AI investment such
- More than 1,600 Meta workers signed a petition against the tool, called the Model Capability Initiative, demanding the company does not harvest “employee ‘computer use’ data
- Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has paused a program that tracked employees’ computer activity amid data privacy concerns and a staff backlash
- The tech publication Wired reported this week that MCI data collected from corporate laptops had been accessible to anyone inside the company
Summary
The owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp had introduced a tool that tracked staff keystrokes, mouse clicks and content displayed on computer screens to collect data for training its AI models. More than 1,600 Meta workers signed a petition against the tool, called the Model Capability Initiative, demanding the company does not harvest “employee ‘computer use’ data”. The petition said: “Collecting and repurposing this kind of data raises serious concerns around privacy, consent, and trust in the workplace.” The tech publication Wired reported this week that MCI data collected from corporate laptops had been accessible to anyone inside the company.