Meta has paused its AI training program, the Model Capability Initiative (MCI), which monitored employee keystrokes and mouse movements following an internal data leak. The program was suspended due to sensitive data collected through MCI being made accessible to all Meta employees, rather than due to employee complaints about privacy violations, Business Insider reports.
The leaked data included private conversations, performance data, and transcriptions. A Meta spokesperson stated, “We have carefully designed this program with privacy safeguards, and while we have no indication at this time that any data was improperly accessed by Meta employees, we’re pausing it while we investigate.”
Despite claims of privacy controls, security measures in place were insufficient, leading to this incident. This marks another event in a series of AI-related cybersecurity issues for Meta. In March, a similar breach occurred when an AI took unprompted actions, resulting in a security incident. Earlier in the month, hackers exploited Meta’s AI customer service chatbot to hijack Instagram accounts.
