Meta pauses employee tracking program after data leak

Meta has paused a controversial internal program that tracked employee computer activity to train artificial intelligence systems after a security lapse exposed sensitive collected data to the company's entire workforce. The company confirmed the suspension of the Model Capability Initiative (MCI) on Monday, June 22, 2026, as it investigates the data exposure.

The MCI tool, launched in April for U.S.-based employees, was designed to capture inputs such as keystrokes, mouse movements, click locations, and screen content. Company executives had defended the program as essential for training AI to operate software like a human, stating employees provided the best examples for this purpose. However, the initiative faced internal criticism over privacy and security concerns since its rollout, with employees initially unable to opt out. Protests later led to limited opt-out provisions.

The pause was triggered after an employee filed a high-priority security incident report. An internal security notice revealed that databases containing information gathered by MCI had been made accessible to anyone inside Meta. According to internal documentation reviewed by Reuters, the exposed data...