Meta Employee Mouse Tracking Tool Captures Non-U.S. Data

Reuters reported that Meta's internal tracking program for U.S. employees could record messages involving staff outside the United States. The company stated it notified non-U.S. employees and reviewed privacy risks. The program, called the Model Capability Initiative, captures keystrokes, mouse movements, and clicks on certain applications to train artificial intelligence models.

Reuters said the tool tracks activity across more than 200 apps and websites.

Company documents provided to employees state that the program records the contents of emails or messages sent to or from U.S. personnel, regardless of the other party's location. A company spokesperson told Reuters that the tool was deployed on U.S. colleagues' computers and that non-U.S. employees were informed of the possibility.

The same spokesperson said the company considered and mitigated potential privacy risks during development and deployment. The company also stated it is committed to complying with applicable laws and regulations.

Employees have reported that the program consumes large amounts of data, exhausting monthly quotas within days for some users. Some staff have expressed concerns about the program's purpose and have circulated petitions opposing it. A legal expert told Reuters that even limited capture of data from EU employees could put the company in violation of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation rules.

Under those rules, companies must have a legal basis for collecting personal data and must disclose what data is being collected.