Some Ray-Ban Meta glasses recorded conversations without wearers knowing; Meta says bug is fixed
Ars Technica reports that some users' glasses saved audio without the "Hey, Meta" prompt. Meta says the bug is fixed but has not explained what caused it.
Some Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses recorded people's conversations without the wearer knowing, according to Ars Technica. The recordings happened even though users had not said the prompt phrase "Hey, Meta." Meta says the bug has been fixed.
Ars Technica reported that users described the problem online this week. One Reddit user, going by Kindly-Audience-137, said it happened on three pairs of Meta Ray-Bans while the "Respond without Hey Meta" setting was turned off. The user said the Meta AI app "saves audio recordings and text transcripts of these conversations in my conversation history."
Ars Technica, citing Android Authority, said that outlet reported the discussions on Tuesday and later that day published a response from Meta:
“This issue has been resolved. People can manage, review, and delete voice logs of their interactions with Meta AI via settings at any time.”Meta, in a statement published by Android Authority
The bug matters because of existing privacy concerns about the glasses, Ars Technica reported. Meta has pointed to a light on the glasses that turns on when they record audio or video. According to Ars Technica, this week's bug shows the glasses can still record inadvertently even with that light on.
Ars Technica also pointed to earlier reports. Contractors for Sama, a data annotation company headquartered in Kenya, say they have viewed footage shot by Ray-Ban Metas, apparently without the wearer or the people filmed knowing. A report by Swedish journalists earlier this year interviewed more than 30 Sama workers. In the US, Ars Technica said, that report led to a lawsuit seeking class action certification and to an investigation by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
In August, Meta updated the glasses so they will not record if the indicator light is covered, Ars Technica reported. The outlet also said privacy concerns have led to proposed legislation, including in Norway, which is considering a temporary ban.
Important questions remain open. Meta has not said what caused the recordings. The Reddit user said they "first noticed this behavior after a recent firmware update," but according to Ars Technica, Meta has not confirmed whether a faulty update was responsible.
It is also not known how many glasses were affected. Ars Technica said there are a few reports online, and that Android Authority could not reproduce the problem before Meta said it was fixed.
Ars Technica said it had asked Meta how many devices were affected and what it is doing to prevent similar bugs. It had not received a reply at the time of its report.
