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Technology · Europe

NOYB accuses Scale AI of tracking Outlier workers across four EU countries

NOYB filed five complaints against Scale AI in France, Italy, the Netherlands and Austria, alleging its Outlier platform recorded freelancers’ keystrokes and mouse movements. The complaints also challenge repeated identity-document and face-video checks, while research cited in the complaints found the activity could be reconstructed into a work-session video.

AI-assisted synthesis · Based on 3 independent reports from 4 outlets · Article text read from 2 of 3 reportsHow it's made

View timeline · 6 entries
4 outlets3 regionsLatest reporting 3 min read
Coverage: Too few ratedL 0 · C 2 · R 0 · 2 unrated
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Photo: EmDee / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

What happened

Key facts

  • NOYB filed five complaints against Scale AI over alleged worker surveillance on its Outlier platform (per The Straits Times, analyticsinsight.net, srnnews.com).
  • The complaints allege that Outlier recorded workers’ keystrokes and mouse movements every few seconds; research cited in the coverage found the data could be used to recreate computer sessions (per The Straits Times, analyticsinsight.net).
  • The complaints say workers faced repeated identity-document and face checks that may breach European Union rules on biometric data (per The Straits Times, analyticsinsight.net).
  • Outlier has more than 900,000 freelancers performing tasks used to create artificial-intelligence training data (per The Straits Times, analyticsinsight.net).
  • The complaints say four workers who requested copies of their personal data between December 2025 and May 2026 received no answer (per The Straits Times).

The brief

NOYB filed five complaints against Scale AI in France, Italy, the Netherlands and Austria, alleging that the company’s Outlier platform monitored freelance workers by recording their keystrokes and mouse movements. The complaints concern a platform with more than 900,000 freelancers whose tasks generate data used to train artificial-intelligence systems.

The allegations focus on activity tracking during work sessions. NOYB’s complaints say the platform recorded keyboard input and mouse movements every few seconds. Research cited in coverage of the complaints found that the collected data could be used to reconstruct a worker’s computer session as a video.

The reports describe this as an allegation about how Outlier operated, not a finding by a regulator or court. The complaints also question Outlier’s identity checks. Workers provide identity documents and face videos to Persona, and NOYB argues that repeated checks may violate European Union rules governing biometric data.

The complaints further say four workers who requested copies of their data between December 2025 and May 2026 received no answer. These concerns involve both the collection of personal information and workers’ ability to obtain information held about them.

The scale of Outlier’s workforce gives the allegations broad reach: more than 900,000 freelancers perform tasks used to create AI training data. The clients named in coverage include Meta, OpenAI and Google. Meta owns 49% of Scale AI, a documented corporate stake that places one of those named clients among the company’s shareholders as well.

A separate detail in the complaints concerns the mechanics of work on the platform. The Straits Times reported that researcher Thomas Le Bonniec cited interviews with workers who described bonuses of US$100 to US$200 for completing 200 tasks in 24 hours.

That account connects the monitoring allegations to task volume and work incentives, but the complaints’ central claims concern tracking and personal-data handling. NOYB’s complaints seek regulatory scrutiny of the alleged monitoring and data practices. The reports do not name a response from Scale AI or describe a decision by a regulator.

The dispute therefore remains at the complaint stage in the coverage, with the alleged recording practices and the biometric-data questions yet to be resolved by a cited authority.

Why it matters

  • Outlier freelancers are the group directly exposed to the alleged monitoring: keystrokes and mouse movements recorded every few seconds could be reconstructed into a video of a work session.
  • More than 900,000 freelancers perform tasks for Outlier, so the alleged practices concern a large workforce producing AI training data.
  • Workers’ identity documents and face videos are collected through Persona; NOYB says repeated checks may breach EU biometric-data rules.
  • Meta owns 49% of Scale AI, while Meta, OpenAI and Google are named as clients using training data produced through Outlier tasks.

What to watch next

  • Whether regulators in France, Italy, the Netherlands or Austria act on NOYB’s five complaints.
  • Whether Scale AI addresses the allegations about keystroke and mouse tracking on Outlier.
  • Whether regulators assess the complaints’ claim that repeated identity-document and face-video checks may breach EU biometric-data rules.
  • Whether the four workers’ requests for copies of their data receive a response.

How it's being covered

Coverage analysisShow details
4 source articles · 4 unique outlets · 3 distinct reports
Outlet political mix: Too few rated· 2 Center · 2 unrated
Where the outlets are based: US/Canada 25% · Europe 25% · Other 50%
Outlet political mix
Too few rated
Left
Center
Right
0 outlets
2 outlets
0 outlets
The marker shows coverage balance: each unique outlet counts once. 2 unrated outlets are not included.
Geography
Where the outlets covering this story are based.
4 unique outletsDominant coverage: US/Canada
How we measure coverage

How outlets' accounts compare

1 framing difference · 1 uncorroborated claim · 2 information gaps
The reports repeat the same account with different emphasis; its central claims are not independently confirmed in the reporting Updat3 read.Compared across 2 reports whose article text Updat3 read; 1 other outlet was checked by headline only.
Framing / emphasis differences
Sources emphasise different angles, actors or consequences of the same reporting.
  • The Straits Times gives more detail on the complaints’ biometric-data concerns, unanswered data-access requests, named clients, Meta’s ownership stake and bonus claims; analyticsinsight.net focuses on tracking, session reconstruction and the workforce size.
Updat3: These are differences of emphasis, not disputes about what is reported. They do not show that the reported claims are true.
One-sided or uncorroborated claims
Claims that come from one party or one source family and are not independently corroborated.
  • The Straits Times reports that researcher Thomas Le Bonniec cited worker interviews describing US$100 to US$200 bonuses for completing 200 tasks in 24 hours.
Updat3: Not independently corroborated yet — treat as a claim, not an established fact.
Not established by the reporting
Information the available reporting does not contain or confirm. This is a gap, not a disagreement.
  • The reports do not identify a regulatory decision or enforcement process already underway.
  • The reports describe the tracking and biometric-data practices as allegations in complaints; neither reports a regulator or court ruling on whether the practices violated EU law.
Updat3: Updat3 cannot conclude anything about this from the current sources.

Timeline

Developments from this story's sources, dated background we compiled and fact-checked, and our earlier coverage. Each row says which.
  1. Scale AI was founded in 2016 by Alexandr Wang and Lucy Guo to provide data-labeling services for machine-learning systems; its Outlier platform later recruited freelancers to produce and assess AI training data.
    Background · from our historical context
  2. The European Union adopted the General Data Protection Regulation.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  3. Max Schrems founded the European privacy group NOYB in 2017, before GDPR took effect.
    Background · from our historical context
  4. The General Data Protection Regulation became applicable across the European Union.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  5. Scale AI launched its Outlier platform for freelancers doing artificial-intelligence training work.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  6. Meta agreed to invest in Scale AI, and Scale AI chief executive Alexandr Wang joined Meta.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3

How we got here

Scale AI was founded in 2016 by Alexandr Wang and Lucy Guo to provide data-labeling services for machine-learning systems; its Outlier platform later recruited freelancers to produce and assess AI training data. That business model made the handling of workers’ activity and identity information subject to European data-protection rules.

The EU adopted the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on 27 April 2016, and it became applicable on 25 May 2018. GDPR Article 15 gives people the right to obtain a copy of their personal data, while Article 9 generally prohibits processing biometric data used to identify someone unless a specified exception applies.

Original sources

1 of 4 articles · US/Canada · Show all

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