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EU privacy advocates accuse US data annotation firm of snooping on contractors

Security1 min read

Privacy group noyb has filed five complaints in four EU countries. It says US data firm Scale AI secretly tracks the contractors who work on its Outlier platform.

What happened

Noyb, a privacy group, says Scale AI tracks people who do data work for its Outlier platform. These workers label data and check AI answers. Noyb filed complaints under Europe's main privacy law, the GDPR. The complaints were filed in France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Austria.

Key facts

  • Noyb filed five complaints in four EU countries.
  • Scale AI's customers include OpenAI, xAI, Anthropic, Google, and the US government.
  • Tracking can happen as often as every few seconds, according to noyb.
  • Scale uses a company called Persona to check worker identities, including with face scans.

Background

Outlier workers do digital tasks from home. Scale AI says it needs to confirm who they are. Noyb says Scale goes much further. It says Scale collects device activity, even when people are not doing Outlier work. It also says this data is sent to outside companies like LinkedIn, TikTok, and Facebook. Persona has also faced criticism over a security problem and a dispute with Discord. Persona denies that it has active US government contracts.

Why it matters

The complaints say this kind of tracking is not allowed in the EU. Noyb warns that the data could be used to build profiles of people and to show them targeted ads. A researcher said this kind of workplace watching would be seen as unacceptable in other jobs in the EU. The case could affect how AI companies manage remote workers in Europe.

What to watch

  • How the privacy regulators in France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Austria respond.
  • Whether Scale AI changes how it tracks Outlier workers.
  • Whether the complaints lead to fines or new rules for remote platform work.

Glossary

Scale AI
A US company that prepares data and checks AI answers for big AI companies. Its Outlier platform hires remote contractors.
Outlier
Scale AI's platform where remote workers label data and check AI-written answers.
noyb
A European privacy group that files complaints to protect people's data rights.
GDPR
The EU's General Data Protection Regulation, a strict privacy law that began in 2018.
Persona
A company that checks people's identities, often with photos or face scans.

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