Privacy group noyb files five complaints against Scale AI over surveillance of AI-training workers
European privacy group noyb filed complaints in France, Italy, the Netherlands and Austria alleging that Scale AI's Outlier platform tracks the keystrokes and mouse movements of its 900,000-plus freelancers and forces repeated biometric checks.
European digital privacy group noyb filed five complaints against Scale AI with regulators in France, Italy, the Netherlands and Austria on Oct. 27, alleging the company illegally monitors the freelance workers who produce training data for AI models, Reuters reported.
The complaints target Outlier, a platform on which more than 900,000 freelancers perform tasks that are recorded to create AI training data for clients such as Meta, OpenAI and Google. Meta owns 49% of Scale AI. noyb said Outlier's customers also include xAI, Anthropic and the US government.
According to the complaints seen by Reuters, up to 19 trackers follow workers while they work, recording keystrokes and mouse movements every few seconds; research collective DiPLab found the resulting file could be rebuilt into a video replaying a work session from start to finish. noyb's technical analysis found trackers from companies including TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, Sprig and Datadog sending workers' IP addresses, contact details and identifiers to third parties. Workers must also repeatedly submit ID documents and face video to identity-verification firm Persona, which the complaints say breaks EU rules on biometric data.
Four workers asked Outlier for copies of their data between December 2025 and May 2026 and received no answer, the complaints said, which noyb argues violates the GDPR right of access. The group is asking regulators to investigate, fine Scale AI and examine how the platform assigns tasks. "You don't work when you want," said Thomas Le Bonniec, who spent two years studying the platform for DiPLab. "You work when the platform wants you to and there are tasks available."
The case highlights how the AI boom depends on a large, often precarious human workforce whose privacy and working conditions face little scrutiny. Scale AI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sources: Reuters (via CNA), noyb, Euronews. Image: noyb.
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