Meta Halts Employee Monitoring Initiative After Internal Data Breach

Meta is halting a controversial employee monitoring program following an internal security breach that revealed potentially sensitive information gathered through the initiative to other staff members.

“We have designed this program with privacy protections in mind, and while we currently have no evidence that any data was inappropriately accessed by Meta employees, we’re halting it during our investigation,” said company spokesperson Tracy Clayton.

The Model Compatibility Initiative (MCI) tool was introduced to US employees in April. It “gathers computer interactions such as mouse movements, click locations, and keystrokes, along with screen content,” according to employees who have voiced objections due to privacy, security, and personal freedom concerns. Initially, employees were unable to opt out, but some changes were made following protests from the workforce.

Meta leaders have consistently defended the data-collection initiative, arguing that it is essential for training AI systems to use computer software similarly to humans and that employees provide the best examples for AI learning.

On Monday, a Meta engineer released an internal security alert indicating that databases containing information collected by MCI had been accessible to all employees within the company.

A former employee who was actively opposing MCI referred to the incident as “a mess”—and one that staff had anticipated. “When concerns were raised, leadership doubled down and ignored the risks cited regarding the safety and privacy of both worker and customer data,” they stated. “Leadership has clearly fostered an authoritarian atmosphere where employees feel disrespected and unheard.”

However, after a flood of critical comments surfaced in internal forums on Monday regarding the security issue, Meta surprised many employees by pausing MCI completely. The company notified WIRED about this change before informing its staff, according to two sources familiar with the situation.