Meta Cuts Sama Contract, Making 1,000 Employees Redundant
Meta has terminated its contract with Sama, a data annotation company that has worked with the social media firm since 2017 to label training data for AI algorithms.
The contract cancellation will result in 1,108 Sama workers losing their jobs. Most of the affected staff are based in Nairobi.
Workers received six days' notice of the redundancies. Many of those losing their jobs were already involved in a US$1.6bn lawsuit against Meta regarding poor working conditions and mental health trauma from previous content moderation work.
A Meta spokesperson told the BBC that subcontracted workers reviewed content captured by the glasses to "improve people's experience with the glasses, as stated in our Privacy Policy."
Privacy breach allegations
According to Svenska Dagbladet and Gotesborgs-Posten, an investigation in February reported that private footage from glasses wearers was sometimes viewed by Sama workers.
"Sama has consistently met the operational, security and quality standards required across our client engagements, including with Meta," a company statement says.
"At no point were we notified of any failure to meet those standards, and we stand firmly behind the quality and integrity of our work."
Meta unveiled a line of AI-powered glasses developed in partnership with Ray-Ban and Oakley in September. The wearable devices use AI to interpret captured images and sounds.
The glasses include a small indicator light that illuminates whenever the built-in camera is actively recording. While users must explicitly start recording either manually or through a voice command, they may not realise the resulting videos and images can be reviewed by human contractors.
Content review process
Sama workers reviewed transcripts of interactions with the AI to check it had answered questions adequately.
According to Meta, all faces are blurred in content for reviewing purposes. However, filtering sometimes fails in low-light settings or when the camera is moving quickly, according to reports from Sama staff.
The Information Commissioner's Office told the BBC in March that "devices processing personal data, including smart glasses, should put users in control and provide for appropriate transparency."
"Service providers must clearly explain what data is collected and how it is used," the ICO said.
Regulatory response
The ICO wrote to Meta to request information on how it is meeting its obligations under UK data protection law.
Meta said: "Unless users choose to share media they've captured with Meta or others, that media stays on the user's device."
"When people share content with Meta AI, we sometimes use contractors to review this data for the purpose of improving people's experience, as many other companies do," the company added.
The contract termination leaves over 1,000 workers without employment. The humanitarian concerns centre on the short notice period given to staff who were already pursuing legal action against the company for conditions related to their previous work.
