The privacy advocacy group noyb has filed five complaints against Scale AI, alleging violations of the EU General Data Protection Regulation. The filings, submitted on October 27, 2026, target the company's monitoring practices on its Outlier platform, which employs freelancers for data annotation and model training tasks.
According to noyb, Scale AI allegedly deployed up to 19 trackers on contractor devices to monitor keystrokes and mouse movements during and outside of work hours. The group further claims that collected data was shared with third parties, including LinkedIn and TikTok, and that biometric identity verification was conducted without sufficient justification.
The complaints were initiated in France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Austria, forcing the company to address multiple national data protection authorities simultaneously. Additionally, the group reports that contractors faced delays of several months when requesting access to their personal data held by the firm.
Scale AI maintains a global network of over 900,000 freelance contractors. In June 2025, Meta acquired a 49% stake in the company for $14.3 billion, a transaction that established a valuation for Scale AI exceeding $29 billion.
