Meta Patches Ray-Ban Smart Glasses Recording Bug
AI-generated image · US National Wire
Reports indicate wearable devices captured audio without user consent, fueling concerns over nonconsensual surveillance.
Meta has resolved a technical bug that caused some Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses to record audio conversations without the wearer's knowledge or the use of the "Hey, Meta" prompt, as Ars Technica first reported.
Users, including a Reddit user identified as Kindly-Audience-137, reported that the devices captured audio and saved text transcripts in the Meta AI app's conversation history even when the "Respond without Hey Meta" setting was disabled. Kindly-Audience-137 suggested the behavior began following a recent firmware update. While Meta confirmed the issue is resolved and noted that users can manage or delete voice logs in settings, the company has not disclosed the cause of the bug or the number of affected devices.
This incident follows broader privacy alarms regarding Meta's wearable hardware. Ars Technica reports that Swedish journalists interviewed more than 30 workers at Sama, a Kenya-based data annotation company, who claimed to have viewed privacy-sensitive footage captured by the glasses without the knowledge of the wearer or the subjects. These reports led to an investigation by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and a lawsuit seeking class action certification in the U.S.
To address these concerns, Meta implemented an update in August that prevents recording if the device's indicator light is covered. However, the recent glitch demonstrates that recordings can occur inadvertently regardless of the hardware's design. The privacy risks associated with these devices have prompted proposed legislation in Norway, including a potential temporary ban.