European privacy advocacy group noyb has filed five complaints against Scale AI in France, Italy, the Netherlands and Austria, alleging that its Outlier platform illegally monitored freelance workers who produce training data for artificial intelligence systems.
The complaints focus on Outlier, a platform used by more than 900,000 freelancers who perform tasks that are recorded and used to create AI training data for clients including Meta, OpenAI and Google.
Meta owns 49% of Scale AI.
Noyb has asked European regulators to investigate the company, impose fines where appropriate and examine how Outlier assigns tasks to workers.
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Complaints Allege Extensive Worker Tracking
According to complaints reviewed by Reuters, as many as 19 trackers followed workers while they performed tasks on the platform.
The monitoring allegedly included recording keystrokes and mouse movements every few seconds.
Research by Paris-based collective DiPLab found that the resulting data could potentially be reconstructed into a video replaying a worker’s session from beginning to end.
Thomas Le Bonniec, who spent two years studying the platform for DiPLab, said workers could not simply choose when to work because tasks were available only when the platform made them available.
Scale AI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Biometric Checks and Bonuses Also Questioned
Workers using Outlier are also required to submit identity documents and a facial video to identity-verification company Persona.
The complaints allege that these checks were invasive, were repeated without adequate explanation and may have violated European Union rules governing biometric data.
DiPLab also found that Outlier uses game-like mechanisms and bonuses as part of its worker incentive system.
According to Le Bonniec, workers were offered bonuses of between $100 (about ₹9,514) and $200 (about ₹19,028) for completing 200 tasks within 24 hours.
He compared the system with gamification practices that have previously attracted regulatory scrutiny in Europe.
Workers Allegedly Received No Response to Data Requests
The complaints also raise concerns about workers’ ability to access information held about them.
Four workers requested copies of their personal data from Outlier between December 2025 and May 2026, but none received a response, according to the complaints.
The case could draw greater regulatory attention to the treatment of freelance workers who help generate and label the data used to train major AI systems.
It also adds to broader scrutiny of how AI companies and their contractors collect behavioural, identity and biometric information from the large workforces supporting artificial intelligence development.
About the author — Suvedita Nath is a science student with a growing interest in cybercrime and digital safety. She writes on online activity, cyber threats, and technology-driven risks. Her work focuses on clarity, accuracy, and public awareness.
