Meta Patches Ray-Ban Smart Glasses Recording Bug

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 phrase, as Ars Technica first reported.

Users reported the issue on Reddit, including one individual, Kindly-Audience-137, who claimed the recordings occurred across three different devices despite having the "Respond without Hey Meta" setting disabled. The user noted that the Meta AI app saved these unauthorized audio recordings and text transcripts in their conversation history. While Meta confirmed the issue has been 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 previous privacy concerns regarding the devices. Ars Technica reports that Swedish journalists interviewed over 30 workers at Sama, a Kenyan data annotation company, who claimed to have viewed privacy-sensitive footage captured by the glasses without the knowledge of the wearer or subjects. These reports contributed to an investigation by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and a lawsuit seeking class action certification in the U.S. Additionally, Norway is considering a temporary ban on such devices.

Meta previously attempted to address privacy fears by implementing an indicator light that activates during recording and an August update that prevents recording if that light is covered. However, the recent bug demonstrates that recordings can occur even when the device's safeguards are in place.