Meta records employee mouse movements and keystrokes for AI training

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Meta Platforms has informed employees in the US that new tracking software is being installed on their systems, recording mouse movements, clicks, and keystrokes. This data is intended to train AI models. The goal is to develop AI agents that can autonomously perform work tasks. This is not about surveillance or performance reviews, but solely about AI training, assures a Meta spokesperson.

The Facebook group calls the tool “Model Capability Initiative” (MCI), and it is active on work-related programs and websites. In addition, screenshots of employees' screens are occasionally taken. This is intended to help AI models better understand human interaction with computers, such as the use of keyboard shortcuts and selection from dropdown menus, which artificial intelligence (AI) still has problems with, according to Meta.

Collecting data for training AI agents

MCI is part of a consistent focus on AI within the group. In this context, Meta recently cut jobs and is now testing AI-driven teams in a new organizational structure. If AI models learn employee activities through MCI, a higher integration of AI into workflows could lead to improved operational efficiency, apparently according to Meta Platforms' plans.

In the communication to employees, however, it only says that “all Meta employees can help our models get better simply by doing their daily work,” Reuters reports. Early in the week, Meta's CTO Andrew Bosworth had already prepared employees in another memo for an expansion of internal data collection.

“The vision we are building towards is one where our agents primarily do the work and our role is to direct, review, and help them improve,” Bosworth wrote. Although he did not explain how the AI models are trained, Meta is “building up data and evals for all the types of interactions we have as we go about our work.”

Meta confirms surveillance for AI training

Meta spokesperson Andy Stone confirms that the data collected by MCI is included, but it will not be used for performance reviews or any purpose other than AI training. Protective measures for “sensitive content” will also be used. However, Stone did not explain what type of data will not be logged.

“If we're building agents to help people complete everyday tasks using computers, our models need real examples of how people actually use them — things like mouse movements, clicking buttons, and navigating dropdown menus,” Stone added.

Likely illegal in the EU, but allowed in the US

Within the EU, such surveillance may be illegal, explains Valerio De Stefano, law professor at York University in Toronto, as it would violate the GDPR. In Italy, logging employee actions is explicitly forbidden, and in Germany, recording keyboard actions is only permitted in exceptional cases, such as in suspicion of a serious crime.

“On the U.S. side, federally, there is no limit on worker surveillance,” admits Ifeoma Ajunwa, law professor at Yale University. However, this has so far only been used by companies to investigate employee misconduct or non-work-related activities. Some U.S. state laws, however, require employees to be informed about such surveillance, Ajunwa added.

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