Meta's Ray-Ban glasses record everything, including private moments: Worker
A Kenyan worker labeling videos for Meta says the company's Ray-Ban smart glasses record everything—with filters that sometimes fail—capturing private moments, imagery of people's bank cards, and even "living rooms to naked bodies."
This has sparked serious worries about user privacy and how our data is used to train AI.
'We have to label everything'
The worker shared that they're required to label all footage, no matter how personal or explicit, or risk losing their job.
There's little transparency: Meta's terms state they may review interactions, including manual (human) review, but they do not give users a way to opt out of having their data sent to servers.
Privacy risks are huge
Attempts to blur faces or hide identities sometimes fail, so people in videos might still be recognizable.
This makes the privacy risks even bigger.
UK's ICO is looking into the matter
After these revelations, the UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said it will write to Meta to request information on how it is meeting its obligations under UK data protection law.
The ICO said the claims were concerning.
The worker is employed by Sama
The worker is employed by Sama, a Nairobi-based company that labels content for Meta's AI training.
Sama has since stopped content moderation services after the contract attracted criticism and legal action by former employees.