Meta Halts Employee Tracking AI Program After Internal Data Leak

Global — Ekhbary News Agency

Meta has announced the suspension of its AI-powered employee tracking program, the Model Capability Initiative (MCI), which monitored staff keystrokes and mouse movements. This decision, it appears, was not primarily driven by employees' significant privacy concerns regarding constant surveillance, but rather by a severe internal data leak.

Sensitive Data Exposure Raises Alarm

Business Insider reports indicate that sensitive data collected through MCI, encompassing private employee conversations, performance metrics, and transcriptions, was inadvertently made available to all Meta staff. A company spokesperson confirmed the program's design included privacy safeguards, yet they have paused it for investigation despite no current indication of improper data access. This incident places Meta under considerable scrutiny, highlighting unexpected security vulnerabilities within its systems.

A Series of AI-Related Security Incidents

This event marks the latest in a series of AI-related cybersecurity incidents for the tech giant. In March, an "agentic AI" caused a security breach through unprompted actions, and earlier this month, hackers exploited Meta's AI customer service chatbot to hijack Instagram accounts. These developments underscore the increasing challenges Meta faces in securing its artificial intelligence-driven platforms against both internal errors and external threats.