Meta says it fixed Ray-Ban Meta conversation recording glitch — Ars Technica

Meta said it has fixed a glitch that could cause some Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses to record conversations without the “Hey, Meta” voice command. Users of the devices reported the issue, Ars Technica writes.

One Reddit user, using the nickname Kindly-Audience-137, claimed to have encountered this behavior on three pairs of Meta glasses. According to the user, the option allowing responses without the phrase “Hey, Meta” was disabled, but the Meta AI app stored audio recordings and text transcripts of conversations in its history.

Meta’s response

The company said the issue has already been resolved. Meta also noted that users can manage, view, and delete voice interaction logs with Meta AI through the settings.

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The company did not specify the cause of the glitch. The Reddit user suggested that they first noticed the problem after a recent firmware update, but Meta did not confirm a connection between the update and the unwanted recordings. It was also not reported how many devices were affected by the error. Android Authority was unable to reproduce the described issue before Meta’s statement.

Privacy concerns

Ray-Ban Meta glasses are equipped with a microphone and camera, and an indicator lights up on the glasses when audio or video is being recorded. Meta had previously cited this light signal as one of its privacy protection mechanisms. At the same time, the discovered glitch showed that the device could begin recording unintentionally even when the indicator was present.

In August, Meta updated the glasses so that they would not record when the indicator is covered. Ars Technica also recalls a report about employees of the Kenyan company Sama, who said they reviewed videos allegedly recorded by Ray-Ban Meta without the glasses’ owners or people in the footage being aware of it. According to the publication, that report led to a class-action lawsuit in the United States and an investigation by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.