Meta has reduced portions of its initiative to gather employee computer activity data for artificial intelligence training following significant worker opposition, according to a company internal communication released Tuesday.
The social media giant had planned to monitor staff mouse movements, keyboard activity, and other computer interactions to help develop AI systems. However, employees voiced strong objections to the data collection program over several weeks.
In the internal communication, the company acknowledged the workforce concerns while defending its original privacy safeguards. “While we remain confident in the privacy protections we put in place at launch, which went through several layers of risk review, we have heard your concerns about personal data on work devices, battery life, and wanting more control over when capturing happens,” the company stated in the memo.
The company emphasized that its initial privacy measures had undergone multiple security assessments before implementation, but ultimately decided to modify the program in response to employee feedback about data privacy, device battery performance, and user control over the monitoring system.
