The Défenseur des droits, France’s national rights watchdog, has just made public their latest decision (Decision No. 2025-086) concerning a major French platform that offers internet users micro-tasks in exchange for payment. This landmark ruling follows an in-depth investigation into discriminatory recruitment practices—based on nationality, bank domiciliation, and place of residence—brought to light with the support of DiPLab’s research, after the French data authority CNIL – Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés had already flagged the platform. DiPLab’s 104-page anonymized report “Discriminations and vulnerabilities in France’s micro-work platforms” (in French) provided critical evidence and analysis. Our key scientific contribution was the development of a “vulnerability index,” a novel statistical measure that reveals how economic precarity can lead to indirect discrimination among microworkers. This tool—pioneering in its application to platform-based data work—helped demonstrate how structural conditions on these platforms can unfairly disadvantage certain groups. The Défenseur des Droits’ final recommendations to the platform include eliminating discriminatory registration criteria, increasing transparency in worker evaluation and payment systems, limiting intrusive personal data collection, and auditing algorithmic systems for potential biases. This decision carries significant implications for DiPLab. Being formally consulted and cited in such a high-level ruling affirms the scientific value and societal relevance of our work. It validates our methodological innovations—particularly the vulnerability Inde—as tools for understanding and addressing structural inequalities in digital labor. The outcome strengthens DiPLab’s position as a trusted partner for institutions, NGOs, and regulators working on platform fairness and algorithmic accountability, while providing a concrete case study that will inform future research. For a preview of our continuing work in this area, we invite you to attend our upcoming presentation at the INSNA Sunbelt Social Network Conference (June 23–29, 2025, Paris). Paola Tubaro, Antonio Casilli, José Luis Molina, and Antonio Santos-Ortega will present a comparative study on data worker vulnerability in France and Spain (see link in comment).