Meta Employee Attacks Zuckerberg for Collecting Every Employee Keystroke: "I Don't Want to Live in a World Where Humans - Employees or Otherwise - Are Exploited for Their Training Data"

"“Selfishly, I don't want my screen scraped because it feels like an invasion of my privacy,” an engineer wrote this week in an internal post seen by nearly 20,000 coworkers, Wired reported. “But zooming out, I don't want to live in a world where humans - employees or otherwise - are exploited for their training data.”"

"The initiative at the center of the debate, called the Model Capability Initiative, closely tracks employees' keyboard strokes, mouse data, and records their screens while using certain apps. Meta leadership claims that this data will be used to teach its AI models “how people actually complete everyday tasks using computers,” amid the industry's heavy push into AI agents that can perform tasks on your behalf."

"Despite half-hearted assurances from Meta chief technology officer Andrew Bosworth that the data would be “tightly controlled,” many employees see it as a blatant violation of their privacy (and that's without even getting into Zuckerberg's own dismal history with accessing users' private data.)"

"It comes at a time when morale at the company is at a nadir. As part of Zuckerberg's all-in AI push, Meta announced it would fire ten percent of its workforce, or nearly 8,000 employees, leaving many uncertain about their future. The company is also demanding that employees produce more than ever by using AI agents and coding tools as much as possible, with AI usage now a factor in performance reviews."

Meta’s Model Capability Initiative tracks employees’ keyboard strokes, mouse data, and screen activity while using certain apps to train AI models on how people complete everyday computer tasks. Many employees view the tracking as an invasion of privacy, despite leadership assurances that the data would be tightly controlled. Morale is already low due to Meta’s plan to fire about 10% of its workforce and increased expectations that employees use AI agents and coding tools, with AI usage affecting performance reviews. Instead of passive acceptance, employees have responded with internal criticism, including posts to thousands of coworkers, and a petition circulating to end the initiative.

Read at Futurism