UK watchdog eyes Meta's smart glasses after workers say they 'see everything'
- Reference: 1772713083
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/03/05/ico_meta_glasses/
- Source link:
[1]
Ray Ban Meta smart glasses on sale in a retail display case. Pic credit: Columbo.photog/ Shutterstock
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) confirmed it is contacting Meta following an [2]investigation by Swedish outlets Svenska Dagbladet and Göteborgs-Posten that claims outsourced workers tasked with improving Meta's AI systems routinely review footage showing everything from everyday conversations to far more intimate scenes.
Hide from Meta's spyglasses with this new Android app [3]READ MORE
The fuss revolves around Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses, ordinary-looking frames stuffed with cameras, microphones, and an AI assistant that can take photos, shoot video, and respond to voice commands. Meta's terms note that some interactions may be reviewed by humans to improve the system, but according to the Swedish investigation, that review queue can occasionally include moments wearers likely didn't expect strangers to watch.
According to interviews with dozens of workers employed by a Meta subcontractor in Nairobi, Kenya, their job involves labeling and reviewing video, audio, and transcripts collected from the glasses so the company's AI models can better interpret real-world scenes and conversations.
Some of the workers interviewed claim the review queue isn't just harmless AI prompts. Some clips show people getting dressed or using the toilet, while others capture private conversations about relationships, politics, or alleged wrongdoing. Others interviewed by the Swedish outlets claimed the clips occasionally include things like bank cards, personal paperwork, or other identifying details inadvertently caught on camera. As one employee put it: "We see everything."
The investigation raises questions about cross-border data flows. Under the EU's GDPR, companies transferring personal data to contractors outside the bloc must ensure the information is protected through approved safeguards.
[4]Headset hype meets harsh reality as Apple and Meta VR shipments fizzle in 2025
[5]Post-privacy AI glasses claim to listen to your every word
[6]Microsoft HoloLens finds second home in the military after failing battlefield tests
[7]Meta retreats from metaverse after virtual reality check
This has, unsurprisingly, caught the attention of the UK's ICO. The watchdog said it was writing to Meta after the claims surfaced, describing the allegations as "concerning." The regulator added that organizations deploying products that capture personal data must be transparent about what information is collected, how it is used, and who may have access to it.
"Devices processing personal data, including smart glasses, should put users in control and provide appropriate transparency. This includes where user data is used to train or develop AI systems," a spokesperson told The Register .
[8]
"The claims in this article are concerning," the ICO added. "We will be writing to Meta to request information on how it is meeting its obligations under UK data protection law."
[9]
Meta, for its part, [10]told the BBC that recordings are only used to improve its AI systems in certain circumstances, such as when users choose to share interactions to help train the technology. The company said users can manage their data through device settings and delete recordings at any time.
Neither the ICO or Meta responded to The Register 's questions.
[11]
The report is yet another reminder that "AI-powered" often still means humans somewhere in the loop – sometimes watching more than users bargained for. ®
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[1] https://regmedia.co.uk/2026/03/05/shutterstock_meta_smart_glasses.jpg
[2] https://www.svd.se/a/K8nrV4/metas-ai-smart-glasses-and-data-privacy-concerns-workers-say-we-see-everything
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/25/meta_smart_glasses_android_app/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/02/apple_vision_pro_meta_quest_sales_drop/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/20/meta_glasses_hackers_new_ai_specs/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/27/hololens_headsets_pentagon/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/16/meta_quest_horizon_workrooms/
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aam2uTTVGpasd3I8RggazQAAAtg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aam2uTTVGpasd3I8RggazQAAAtg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0q33nvj0qpo
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aam2uTTVGpasd3I8RggazQAAAtg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: describing the allegations as "concerning."
Cameras, microphones, and - through the 'Neural Wrist Band' - they "read micro-gestures from your hand". The mind boggles.
But they're being marketed to people who feel they're at a "significant cognitive disadvantage" without them so maybe it's not bleedin obvious to the wearers.
Re: describing the allegations as "concerning."
Make wearing them in public illegal. That might not entirely overcome the cognitive disadvantage but it might drop the hint that it's not quite kosher.
Re: describing the allegations as "concerning."
“maybe it's not bleedin obvious to the wearers”
In that case, those users should be euthanised to take them out of the gene pool. The mind boggles. Every day in the tech press there seems to be yet another story along the lines of “bloody stupid people doing bloody stupid things that probably ought to be illegal anyway, are complaining about the consequences of the stupid things they are doing”. Arrrrrrggghhhhhh!!!!
Re: describing the allegations as "concerning."
Don't worry, there will be a political show with concern/outrage and a month later nothing will have happened. I will say that if I was in a room with someone wearing these spy glasses, I'd leave. Much like if I was in a room with one of these billionaire aholes, I'm gone. The mere presence of these creatures is most unpleasant.
Re: "if I was in a room with someone wearing these spy glasses, I'd leave"
Sometimes you're not in a room that you can choose to immediately leave. Although other people found [1]solutions to that situation
[1] https://futurism.com/future-society/woman-hero-smashing-meta-smart-glasses-subway
Re: describing the allegations as "concerning."
"there will be a political show with concern/outrage and a month later nothing will have happened"
Just wind the clock back a decade or so and change the name to 'Google Glass'...
"The company said users can manage their data through device settings and delete recordings at any time."
Ah, yes. The usual Facebook tactic of shifting responsibility for their privacy-invading behaviour to their users under the guise of offering them control.
Such controls being intentionally complex, constantly-shifting and mysteriously always defaulting or reverting to "let us keep all your data", such that they know overwhelmed users will give up trying to keep on top of them.
"The company said users can manage their data through device settings and delete recordings set the deleted flag at any time."
And what about the recordings of the people the wearer captures? Surely they have the right not to have their data Zucked up into Meta
Who would wear AI glasses during "extremely private moments" ...
... unless they were running a Honeytrap?
Re: Who would wear AI glasses during "extremely private moments" ...
Sadly many people fitted prescriptions lenses on their meta glasses…
Re: Who would wear AI glasses during "extremely private moments" ...
And who wants to have sex with a loser that uses these things all day, even while having sex?
Re: Who would wear AI glasses during "extremely private moments" ...
I suspect some of the wearers were, errrr 'having sex' with themselves.
Re: Who would wear AI glasses during "extremely private moments" ...
I did hear that a very common approach to improving one's sex life is simply to involve a second person...
I often wonder about when was the last time you could have a private conversation with someone. I mean really truly private with absolute certainty that nobody was listening.
Once, being in a large open field would be certainty enough. Now you can reason that nobody is *probably* listening, but you cannot know that they are not. I think that spoils life, even if just a little.
At least with these glasses you know 100% that someone IS listening - some poor sod in Kenya which is actually so bizarre when you think about it. It's someone job to catalogue every utterance so that future versions of AI can do it automatically.
The fact they have to look at your cock whilst they do it is just a cruelty.
No!
Well I'm absolutely outraged!
All I did was knowingly strap a camera to myself designed to record every waking moment, and it went and recorded every waking moment!
I'm suing.
Re: No!
I paid $5000 to willfully disregard the existence and privacy rights of others with my constant recording, not to embarrass myself in front of remote strangers being paid minimum wage to review footage! I bought these for a continuous vapid feeling of superiority in a society where the legal system near exclusively protects me and my absurd amounts of wealth required to so callously spend money on such nonsense, so I am free to surreptitiously record peasants at Starbucks all I want. I will not be made a fool!
Key takeaway
The owners are just fucking stupid. I mean, seriously... Using the toilet, masterbating, having sex, robbing a bank? While wearing spy glasses hooked up to Skynet? You're a fucking moron.
Re: Key takeaway
You missed 'trusting Meta' from your list of stupid things that the owners do.
Easy fix?
> respond to voice commands
Just go up to the wearer and say "Hey Ray bans deleted all recorded content"
Re: Easy fix?
No problem, just state your 26 digit password, the maiden name of your great great grandmother and state how many grains of sand there are on Blackpool beach.
Re: Easy fix?
My default assumption would be that one of the wearer's 2G-Grandmothers will have the same surname as the wearer.
Re: Easy fix?
I think I saw a similar suggestion for the original google glasses on this very website, which has stuck with me for years: "ok glass, safesearch off, horse porn".
Some thiings which are seen can not be unseen.
What a surprise
Meta's AI glasses are Actually Africans rather than Actually Indians.
That they have low paid workers watching everything is not a surprise.
Re: What a surprise
And really should not be a surprise. I'd expect Africans can be bought for less per hour than Indians. Race to the bottom. I imagine some of the conflict zones in Africa people can be bought for a few grains of rice and a 1/2L of water per day. And they'd never sell a private video for an extra L of water, right?
Regulator
Regulator: Lemme see that inappropriate footage, pronto!
Meta: There it is
Regulator: Mmm... do you have some more of that filth you dirty boy?
Meta: There it is
Regulator: Naughty, naughty. We are going to slap your wrists!
Meta: Oh spank me daddy!!!
Regulator: Oh there are reports of some more unholy lewd stuff you've been secretly recording, send me everything now!
Meta: Uploading as we speak.
Regulator: Oh my good lord, I am going to choke you with this little fine.
Meta: Fine me harder! Make me make it rain!
etc...
describing the allegations as "concerning."
Rather than “concerning”, what about “bleedin’ obvious”? If you walk around all day pointing a camera and microphones at everything and everyone, then obviously you are going to record stuff that really shouldn’t be recorded
These things should be outright made illegal