noyb files five GDPR complaints against Scale AI over Outlier worker surveillance
European privacy group noyb filed five GDPR complaints against Scale AI on October 27, 2026, alleging its Outlier platform subjects more than 900,000 freelance data workers to invasive tracking, forced biometric checks and unanswered data-access requests.
- Who: noyb, the European privacy group, together with Intérêt à Agir, DiPLab and Reversing.Works.
- What: five GDPR complaints against Scale AI, filed October 27, 2026 with regulators in France, Italy, the Netherlands and Austria.
- Target: Outlier, Scale AI's platform where more than 900,000 freelancers train AI systems by writing prompts, ranking answers and annotating data.
- Tracking alleged: up to 19 trackers recording keystrokes and mouse movements every few seconds, with session data that DiPLab says can be rebuilt into a replay video.
- Biometric checks: repeated face-video and ID uploads via identity firm Persona; noyb cites about 70,000 Persona-stored ID photos exposed by hackers in October 2025.
- Scale AI's response: Outlier's practices are disclosed to contributors and require their consent, and the company says it complies with GDPR.
The complaints#
European privacy group noyb filed five GDPR complaints against Scale AI on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, alleging that the company illegally monitored freelance workers who produce training data for AI models. The complaints were filed with regulators in France, Italy, the Netherlands and Austria, Reuters reported, and noyb is asking regulators to fine Scale AI and examine how the platform assigns tasks.
The complaints target Outlier, Scale AI's platform where more than 900,000 freelancers perform tasks — writing prompts, ranking answers and annotating data — that train AI systems for clients including Meta, OpenAI and Google. Meta owns 49% of Scale AI, according to Reuters. The complaints were filed jointly with public-interest nonprofit Intérêt à Agir, digital-labour research group DiPLab and gig-economy accountability initiative Reversing.Works.
What the complaints allege#
The core allegation is surveillance at work. The complaints say up to 19 trackers follow workers while they work, recording keystrokes and mouse movements every few seconds, and that DiPLab's investigation found the resulting file could be rebuilt into a video replaying a work session from start to finish. noyb's announcement names trackers from TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, the survey platform Sprig and the data-analysis company Datadog, and says the data sent to third parties includes IP addresses, contact details, unique identifiers and page information that can be used for targeted advertising and profiling.
noyb argues Scale AI lacks a valid legal basis to place trackers on workers' devices without consent, and that the tracking violates the GDPR's data-minimisation principle. It also points to the platform's incentive design: DiPLab found Outlier offered bonuses of $100 to $200 for completing 200 tasks in 24 hours, a gamification approach Reuters notes Italy's data protection authority already fined delivery platform Glovo over in 2021.
Biometric checks and unanswered requests#
A second strand concerns identity verification. Workers must repeatedly submit ID documents and face video to identity-verification firm Persona, checks the complaints call invasive, repeated without explanation and in breach of EU rules on biometric data. noyb adds that Persona's data-security history is questionable, citing approximately 70,000 photos of government-issued IDs stored with Persona that were exposed by hackers in October 2025.
Finally, the complaints say Scale AI ignored workers' own data rights: four workers asked Outlier for copies of their personal data between December 2025 and May 2026, and none received an answer, according to the complaints seen by Reuters.
Scale AI's response#
Scale AI disputes the picture. A company spokesperson told Rapporteur that "Outlier's practices are disclosed to contributors and require their consent," adding: "We maintain strong data protection safeguards and comply with applicable privacy laws, including GDPR." Reuters reported that Scale AI did not immediately respond to its request for comment when the complaints were filed.
Why it matters#
The case puts a spotlight on the workforce behind the AI boom. As noyb's announcement notes, more than 40 million people already have their work organised by platforms, and the AI industry relies heavily on that labour to review and annotate model output. DiPLab researcher Thomas Le Bonniec, who spent two years studying the platform, put it bluntly: "You don't work when you want. You work when the platform wants you to and there are tasks available."
What happens next is in regulators' hands. noyb has requested a full investigation of the alleged violations and suggests the authorities impose an administrative fine to prevent similar violations in the future. The complaints are part of a broader AI-WORLD initiative on working conditions across AI value chains, led by Intérêt à Agir with DiPLab and supported by the European AI & Society Fund and the Digital Freedom Fund — so even before any ruling, the filing frames platform-worker surveillance as a test case for how Europe polices the human labour inside AI.