Meta Faces Backlash Over Employee Tracking Tool

In April, Meta said it would track US employees' computer use to help its AI. Then, it laid off 8,000 employees. Now, remaining employees are upset about the tracking tool, which may break EU privacy rules.

Last month, Meta told US employees it was tracking their work to build AI agents. It said this would only affect US employees and that their privacy was safe.

Some employees are unhappy with the tool, calling Meta a 'data factory'. They say it uses too much data, increasing home internet use, and tracks more than Meta says, like code changes and computer use.

An internal post about this issue disappeared. A Meta spokesperson said the post was incorrect.

Meta said the tool would track emails and messages sent to US employees. A legal expert thinks this might break EU data protection rules, depending on how the data is used.

A Meta spokesperson said the tool is only on US employees' computers. He said non-US employees were told about the tool if they email or chat with US colleagues.

The spokesperson said Meta thought about and reduced potential privacy risks when creating and using the tool, and will follow the law.

Earlier this month, it was reported that Meta, Google, and TikTok face EU complaints about protecting users from financial scams.

Other big tech companies, like Snapchat, Amazon, and Pinterest, have also laid off employees due to AI. In 2025, AI was linked to 50,000 job cuts.

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