Every time you apply for a job at a Fortune 500 company, there's a decent chance an AI you've never heard of is secretly building a profile on you. It's labeling you an "introvert" or "team player." It's ranking your "quality of education." It's predicting your future job titles. And until this week, you had no idea it was happening.
A new class action lawsuit filed January 21st in California is pulling back the curtain on Eightfold AI, a venture capital-backed hiring platform used by Microsoft, PayPal, and many other major corporations. The allegations are disturbing: the company has been compiling secret dossiers on job applicants without their knowledge or consent.
What Eightfold Is Accused of Collecting
According to the lawsuit filed by plaintiffs Erin Kistler and Sruti Bhaumik, Eightfold doesn't just look at your resume. The complaint alleges the company hoovers up:
Data Allegedly Collected Without Consent
- Social media posts and activity
- Location data
- Internet browsing activity
- Website cookie information
- Data scraped from online resumes across the web
- Information from job listings you've viewed
From this data, Eightfold allegedly creates what the lawsuit calls "talent profiles" that include subjective personality assessments and predictive rankings, all without telling the job seeker any of this is happening.
The Secret Profile They're Building on You
Here's what one of these hidden profiles allegedly includes:
Personality Description
"Team player" / "Introvert"
Quality of Education
Ranked (criteria unknown)
Predicted Future Titles
AI-generated career trajectory
Predicted Future Companies
AI-generated employer predictions
Think about that for a moment. An AI is deciding whether you're an "introvert" based on scraped social media data, and that assessment might be the reason you didn't get a callback. But you never knew it happened, and you certainly never got a chance to dispute it.
Who Uses Eightfold?
The platform isn't some obscure startup. Major corporations rely on Eightfold to screen candidates:
If you've applied to any major corporation in the past few years, there's a meaningful chance your application was processed by Eightfold, and a secret profile was created about you.
The Legal Argument: FCRA Violation
The lawsuit alleges Eightfold is violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The argument is straightforward: if a company is compiling reports about individuals that are used to make employment decisions, those individuals have a right to know about it and to dispute inaccuracies.
"Candidates who apply for jobs at companies that use those tools are not given notice and a chance to dispute errors."
This is significant because it attempts to apply existing consumer protection law to AI systems that make consequential decisions about people's lives. If successful, it could force AI hiring tools across the industry to provide transparency about how they score candidates.
The "Black Box" Problem
The lawsuit describes Eightfold as a "black box," and this is perhaps the most troubling aspect. When an AI labels you as having low "quality of education" or predicts you won't advance past a certain career level, you can't see the reasoning. You can't challenge it. You might never even know it happened.
Why This Matters
Imagine being rejected from dozens of jobs because an AI incorrectly labeled you based on scraped social media posts from a decade ago. Or because it misinterpreted your career trajectory. Or because its training data encoded biases about what a "successful" candidate looks like.
You'd never know. You'd just wonder why you can't get past the first round.
Potential Implications If the Lawsuit Succeeds
For Job Seekers
Right to see AI-generated profiles and scores. Ability to dispute inaccuracies before hiring decisions are made.
For AI Companies
Mandatory disclosure of data collection. Requirements for human oversight of AI-generated assessments.
For Employers
Greater liability for using opaque AI tools. Need to verify AI vendor compliance with consumer protection law.
For the Industry
Potential regulatory framework treating AI hiring tools like credit reporting agencies.
The Broader Pattern
This lawsuit is part of a growing backlash against AI systems that make consequential decisions about people's lives without transparency or accountability. We've seen similar concerns raised about:
- AI systems that deny mortgage applications
- Algorithms that set bail amounts
- Healthcare AI that determines treatment eligibility
- Insurance AI that sets premium rates
The common thread: AI systems making decisions that significantly impact people's lives while operating as black boxes that can't be questioned or appealed.
What Happens Next
The lawsuit, filed by labor law firm Outten & Golden and nonprofit Towards Justice, is seeking class action status. If certified, it could represent millions of job applicants who have been assessed by Eightfold without their knowledge.
Eightfold has not yet publicly responded to the allegations.
For job seekers, the takeaway is sobering: the hiring process may be even more opaque than you realized. An AI might have already decided who you are and what you're worth, and you never got a vote.