--- title: "Outsourced Workers Are Training AIs With Your Private FB Posts" description: "\"Millions of Facebook Inc photos, status updates and other content posted since 2014\" have been combed over by hundreds of outsourced workers in Hyderabad." date: "2019-05-06" modified: "2019-05-06" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/workers-training-ai-private-fb" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "data breach" - "facebook" - "online privacy" - "the digest" --- # Outsourced Workers Are Training AIs With Your Private FB Posts !["Millions of Facebook Inc photos, status updates and other content posted since 2014" have been combed over by hundreds of outsourced workers in Hyderabad.]() *\Image: Tag Hartman-Simkins\* ## Labeling by Hand *Reuters* [reports that]() millions of "Facebook photos, status updates and other content posted since 2014," including private posts, have been combed over by outsourced workers in India in order to train the company's AI and develop new features. It's yet another example of the social media network's careless handling of its billions of users' privacy — giving third party contractors access to data that's technically labelled as "private" is not a good look. ## Outsource Force Outsourcing firm Wipro Ltd oversaw efforts to label posts and categorize them into five "dimensions," as Facebook reportedly called them, including the subject, occasion, or intention of each post. About 200 more content labeling projects are in the works, according to *Reuters,* employing thousands more contracted workers. The posts include anything from vacation photos to memorials of deceased family members — and yes, they are sometimes tied to user names, company officials told *Reuters*. "We make it clear in our data policy that we use the information people provide to Facebook to improve their experience and that we might work with service providers to help in this process," a Facebook spokeswoman told *Reuters*. ## Bad Record Previous privacy concerns have been raised around Facebook's treatment of the data it collects. The company [got caught]() storing “hundreds of millions” of account passwords in plain text in March. CEO Mark Zuckerberg made it clear that the social giant wants to clear its name. Its F8 developer's conference at the end of last month was dedicated to brushing up its tarnished reputation, including [declaring]() that it was fully committed to ensuring its users' privacy. But if the bad news keep rolling in, that kind of message will ring hollow. **READ MORE:** [Facebook 'labels' posts by hand, posing privacy questions]() \[*Reuters*\] **More on Facebook:** *[InfoWars Made a New Facebook Page One Hour After Ban]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()