AI Data Company Mercor Hit by At Least 7 Class-Action Lawsuits Over Data Breach, Computer Monitoring

Gate News message, April 23 — AI data labeling company Mercor, valued at $10 billion and based in San Francisco, faces at least seven class-action lawsuits in recent weeks over third-party data breaches. The company works with clients including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta, providing feedback data for AI training through contracted workers. Leaked data includes contractor video interviews, facial biometric data, and computer screenshots.

Lawsuits filed on Tuesday in Northern California allege that Mercor collected job applicant background check data and shared it with partners in violation of federal regulations. Plaintiffs also accuse the company of monitoring contractor computers and sharing data with clients, using video interviews to train AI models, and training client models on materials potentially belonging to other companies. Mercor denies the allegations, stating it complies with all applicable laws and has hired third-party forensic experts to investigate the breach.

David Bevvino-Berv, a former Goldman Sachs employee and one of the plaintiffs, claims he saw financial models and prompts containing institutional data terminal markers and real counterparty names while working at Mercor, suggesting proprietary information from other firms. Another plaintiff, Thitipun Srinarmwong, alleges that project managers encouraged workers to use real data from their primary jobs with only anonymization, and that reviewers criticized his submissions as "too short and too vague" when he deliberately obscured sensitive information. Mercor requires contractors to install screenshot software Insightful, which workers say can capture screenshots every minute. Bevvino-Berv reports that Insightful captured images of approximately 240 applications, including his bank account and health insurance portals, without prior notification that monitoring would extend beyond Mercor-related work.

Meta has suspended its partnership with Mercor and launched an investigation. Mercor employed 30,000 contractors in 2025.