“The sample [of breached data] included material referencing Slack data and what appeared to be ticketing data, as well as two videos purportedly showing conversations between Mercor’s AI systems and contractors on its platform.”
bsky.app/profile/tech...
Data workers — particularly if you’ve ever done work on Mercor — please read the post below and get connected to @turkopticon.bsky.social!
bsky.app/profile/turk...
A twitter post screen shot from Mercor.ai that informs the public of a data breach that reads as follows: The privacy and security of our customers and contractors is foundational to everything we to at Mercor. we recently identified that we were one of thousands of companies impacted by a supply chain attack involving LiteLLM. Our Security team moved promptly to contain and remediate the incident. We are conducting a thorough investigation supported by leading third-party forensics experts. We will continue to communicate with our customers and contractors directly as appropriate and devote the resources necessary to resolving the matter as soon as possible.
Dataworkers, if you work on Mercor.ai, please be aware they were involved with a data breach. Considering the level of information they retain on workers, we wanted to make this announcement so you can take steps to protect your identity.
We are proud to be members of the Athena Coalition.
Dataworkers, keep your security and worth in mind when choosing hits to work on. We have noticed an increase in jobs asking for sensitive data from workers.
Read more here:
Are you a tech worker who wants to get connected to community and resources?
We’re building a tech worker group to give updates on our campaigns, share resources, and come together to brainstorm how to close the equity gap between contract and directly hired workers. techequity.us/join-the-tec...
Looking for some fun end-of-year reading?
I'm proud that in 2025, Swati Chintala and I (the labor team at @techequity.bsky.social) released four research projects at the intersection of labor and technology:
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Despite making critical contributions to the booming AI industry, data workers often report that they aren’t treated like the skilled, valuable workers that they are.
So, from @alphabetworkersunion.org to @turkopticon.bsky.social, data workers are organizing for better pay and working conditions.
Our very own @brookh.bsky.social and @kristap.bsky.social shared with Varsha Bansal the concerns they have with AI from the perspective of workers who are fine-tuning it.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Our very own @brookh.bsky.social weighs in on this episode of the @kimkomando.bsky.social show!
AI side hustles: what you need to know
Represented @turkopticon.bsky.social with @kristap.bsky.social & @autobotcoop.bsky.social at #CircuitBreakers2025, talking about the real-world challenges of worker-run organizing & how much we’ve learned (sometimes the hard way).
Organizing is tough, but community and honesty make it possible.
What if you had a job that was paid hourly, but between tasks, you just had to wait online, unpaid, yet ready to go at any moment?
This is the reality for many of the people in the U.S. who train AI for multibillion-dollar companies.
@kristap.bsky.social
Despite making critical contributions to the booming AI industry, data workers often report that they aren’t treated like the skilled, valuable workers that they are.
So, from @alphabetworkersunion.org to @turkopticon.bsky.social, data workers are organizing for better pay and working conditions.
Microsoft cancels Israeli spy unit access after tech worker revolt
In a stunning and massive development, tech giant Microsoft has announced that it is terminating parts of the Israeli military’s access to proprietary technology that it was using to conduct mass surveillance and targeting of Pale
How do you handle the 1.3% error rate?
1/ It’s time to get real about Amazon and AI. Amazon coworkers: sign our open letter below to tell Amazon leadership that we need a more responsible rollout of AI. Everyone else: Send our letter to anyone who works at Amazon or even in the tech industry.
www.amazonclimatejustice.org/open-letter?...
The future of AI is being built on the backs of underpaid workers with no protections. I shared my story in this new report because silence keeps us invisible. #HumansMakeAI #DataWorkersUnite #InvisibleLabor
You can sit at your computer all day waiting for work, unpaid. That’s the hidden cost of keeping AI running.
An excellent report on the often overlooked US dataworker
Thank you @techequity.bsky.social, @alphabetworkersunion.org and @cwaunion.bsky.social for giving them a voice.
Headshot of Brook Hansen
We are so excited to welcome Brook Hansen back to Turkopticon! She brings expertise on platforms like Appen, Outlier, DataAnnotation, Mturk, Prolific, and Click Worker. She will help us reach more workers and we are grateful she's decided to come back to us.
Screen shot of hit submission page with over 1 million approved hits.
Did you know that Turkopticon is worker-run? When we say worker, this is what we mean 👇 Here is organizer Krista Pawloski with over one million hits on Amazon Mechanical Turk. She's still out there in the trenches with #dataworkers everywhere.
When workplaces are considering deploying new technology, how often are the workers themselves part of the process?
Not often enough, despite them being best positioned to advocate for a different and more inclusive approach to tech design, based on their unique expertise.
For years, Prime Day has exacerbated worker injuries.
Instead of cutting back, Amazon doubled the number of Prime Days this month.
One warehouse worker told us, “I’m tired of there being an ambulance at my job site almost every night."
Tech Organizers! Circuit Breakers will be in NYC this year. Oct 18-19. You have until the end of the month to submit a proposal for a session. They are looking for rank and file workers trying to organize.
Hope to see you there!
techworkerscoalition...
Retro computer style message with loading progress bar: “Save the date: Circuit Breakers October 18 to 19 2025 in New York” https://bit.ly/circuitbreakers2025
Circuit Breakers 2025 is now accepting submissions (by July 31st) for workshops, panels, talks, and everything in between!
Learn more at bit.ly/circuitbreakers2025 💥
#labororganizing #techworkers
👀 Former Turkopticon colleagues, Krystal Kauffman & Alexis Chávez have been up to some research, advancing academia and awareness ✨
Data workers love to see research that supports our fight.
Congrats on your research publication.
www.weizenbaum-insti...
When we've collected all of our data, we will share our findings. If you'd like to make sure you are on that list, sign up for our newsletter blog.turkopticon.net?page_id=3969
Major decision out of the Northern District of California. AI training on copyrighted material is fair use under the copyright act. This will have major implications for the AI industry and artists having their work stolen by AI companies.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Screen shot of a survey tile reading "Turkopticon wants to hear from Worers! V2" with survey details below
Look at what we have for you!
Workers, keep your eye out on Mturk and Prolific. We are issuing surveys in small batches at different times to cast a wide net and make sure we are capturing the voice of all workers.
#datawork