Published · Updated · France
GDPRHigh severityEnforcement action
French data regulator files complaint against Scale AI over invasive biometric tracking
France's data protection authority, joined by Italy, the Netherlands and Austria, lodged a complaint against Scale AI’s Outlier platform for mandatory biometric verification and continuous third‑party tracking of European freelance workers.
1 source · French data protection authority (CNIL) and counterpart authorities in Italy, the Netherlands and Austria
What happened
- Scale AI operates the Outlier AI platform with over 900,000 freelance annotators across Europe.
- Trackers from TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, Sprig and Datadog collect IP addresses, contact details and page‑visit data every few seconds.
- The French regulator, together with four other EU authorities, filed formal complaints alleging violations of GDPR privacy and data‑protection rights.
Why it matters
Other AI‑training platforms that rely on gig workers must review biometric and tracking practices to avoid similar complaints and potential enforcement across the EU.
Business impact
Companies may need to redesign onboarding flows, eliminate mandatory biometric checks, and audit all embedded third‑party scripts, increasing compliance costs and delaying platform launches.
Drafted automatically from the sources below. How we write summaries
Does this summary seem wrong?What to check
audit biometric verificationHigh priority
Verify that any biometric checks are lawful under GDPR and have explicit, informed consent.
map third‑party trackersHigh priority
Identify and document all third‑party scripts on worker devices and ensure they have a valid legal basis.
update privacy noticesMedium priority
Provide clear, granular information to workers about data collected, purposes, and recipients.
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