Meta Employees Protest Mousetracking Software

Employees at multiple Meta offices in the United States distributed flyers on Tuesday protesting the company's recently implemented mousetracking software, known as the Model Capability Initiative. The pamphlets appeared in meeting rooms, near vending machines and in restrooms, urging colleagues to sign an online petition demanding an end to the program.

The software records mouse movements, clicks, keystrokes and periodic screenshots on a designated set of work applications and websites, including Google, LinkedIn and Wikipedia. Meta states the data trains AI agents to replicate human behavior in computer tasks. "If we're building agents to help people complete everyday tasks using computers, our models need real examples of how people actually use them, things like mouse movements, clicking buttons, and navigating dropdown menus," the company said in a statement. Meta adds that safeguards protect sensitive information and limit the program's scope.

Workers view the tool as invasive surveillance that could contribute to automating their roles. The flyers labeled it an "Employee Data Extraction Factory" and cited the National Labor Relations Act, which protects employees' rights...