Meta Faces Lawsuit Over Smart Glasses Allegedly Capturing Intimate Moments

Meta is confronting legal challenges as a lawsuit alleges its smart glasses have surreptitiously recorded intimate moments, including instances of sex, nudity, and bathroom activities. More than 70 individuals, who are purchasers, users, or were recorded by Meta's smart glasses, have filed suit against the company. They contend that sensitive photos and videos were transmitted to contractors in Kenya tasked with reviewing and labeling data to enhance Meta's artificial intelligence systems.

According to a proposed class-action lawsuit amended in late August, plaintiffs, including some residing in California, assert that the captured footage depicts individuals undressing, using the bathroom, engaging in sexual activity, and entering passwords. Some plaintiffs claim they were unaware the glasses were recording.

One California plaintiff recounted discovering images of family members bathing and using the bathroom in their photo gallery after leaving the smart glasses on a bathroom counter. The lawsuit states, "He noticed that at times photos of his family members using the bathroom and bathing began appearing in his gallery — footage no one in his household intended to take."

This legal action emerges as Meta prepares to introduce its newest wearable devices at its developers conference. The company promotes its smart glasses as a convenient, hands-free method for capturing photos and videos, making calls, listening to audio, and interacting with Meta AI.

Tina Wolfson, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, informed the Los Angeles Times that the case also involves individuals who may not have consented to being recorded or having their images used for AI development. Wolfson stated, "People who bought these glasses and thought that they were cool gadgets weren’t aware that every time they activated AI, video was sent to train Meta’s AI."

Meta has refuted these allegations and indicated its intention to contest the lawsuit. A company spokesperson told The Times that while some data may be reviewed to improve its products when users engage with Meta AI, the company implements measures to anonymize data and safeguard privacy.

The lawsuit references a February investigation by Swedish newspapers Svenska Dagbladet and Göteborgs-Posten, which involved interviews with over 30 current and former employees of Meta's subcontractor Sama and former Meta workers. Some contractors in Kenya reported reviewing images captured by Meta glasses, and noted that individuals' faces were sometimes visible despite blurring efforts.

Plaintiffs allege that video and audio can be transmitted to Meta when users activate the AI assistant by saying "Hey Meta," and that this feature can be unintentionally triggered.

Further legal scrutiny is being directed at facial recognition technology that Meta has considered for its glasses. Meta Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth discussed a potential feature called "NameTag" in July, which could assist wearers in recalling the names of people they meet.

A separate proposed class-action lawsuit, filed in Illinois, alleges that Meta utilized photographs publicly shared on Facebook and Instagram to train artificial intelligence that could eventually power NameTag and other facial-recognition tools. Jeremy Wahl, a California resident and plaintiff in this case, claims Meta never informed him that his publicly posted photographs on Facebook and Instagram could be used for training NameTag.