Big Brother will be watching
Even more than before
“This is where all Meta employees can help our models get better simply by doing their daily work”
Meta announced it will record keystrokes, mouse movements, and screenshots to train its AI models and coach employees.
Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth said there’s no opt-out. Negative press and employee backlash are already building.
This data is valuable. Recording voice calls with tools like Gong is standard practice for coaching, and increasingly, model training.
Meta’s position is understandable; these are Meta’s computers used by Meta employees to do Meta’s business.
Two second-order effects I’m watching:
1. Off-hours working: If their company laptop becomes purely a work machine, will employees still bring it home? Will a manager knock out a couple emails after planning their kids' birthday party? For years, companies have benefited from employees blending work and personal lives. Screen capture could end it.
2. Legal discovery: This will be a subpoena goldmine. Not just sent emails but drafts. Documents viewed but not authored. Data covered by regulatory protections. The volume of new material available to lawyers will be staggering.
Microsoft was forced to neuter its Windows Recall feature due to backlash from privacy advocates. This was a feature consumers could opt into for their own use. Meta’s version is the opposite.
Corporate America will be watching. If Meta weathers the backlash, expect this to spread quickly.