Meta closes loophole for covert recording with smart glasses
Meta is updating its AI-powered smart glasses to close a loophole that allowed recording to continue after the camera’s front LED indicator was covered. The camera will now stop working if a user covers the indicator during recording, The Verge reports.
How the loophole worked
Meta smart glasses have an LED recording indicator that flashes when the owner takes photos or records video. It is intended to notify people nearby that recording is taking place.
Previously, the built-in camera would turn off if someone covered this indicator. However, some users found that they could bypass the restriction by covering the LED after recording had already started.
Alex Himel, Meta’s vice president of augmented reality, wrote on Threads that the company will continue releasing such updates so that the indicator reliably warns passers-by when photos or videos are being created for a user’s gallery. According to him, only a small number of people attempt to bypass these safeguards.
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Campaign about the indicator
The current update comes a little more than a month after a previous change under which the camera turned off in the event of physical interference with the recording indicator.
Meta smart glasses have raised concerns about privacy and harassment because some owners recorded other people without their consent or filmed random passers-by for pranks on social media. These concerns, as well as reports that Meta could add a facial recognition feature, have provided the basis for a global campaign against such glasses.
At the same time, Meta is launching an information campaign in communities where the glasses have sold well. On a billboard in Los Angeles, the company explains that the camera makes it possible to capture a moment, while the light indicator informs those around it about recording. In a video, Meta also states that the indicator light signals that a photo or video is being created, while its absence means that no recording is taking place.
