Meta employees were forced to review close-up videos captured by Ray-Ban smart glasses

The things you record with your AI-powered Meta Ray-Ban sunglasses – yes, even those intimate moments when you think you’re alone – are likely to be seen by strangers.

An investigation by Swedish stores Svenska Dagbladet again Göteborgs-Posten found that Meta employees offshore Kenya were asked to analyze intimate and “disturbing” videos taken by people wearing glasses, including videos taken in bathrooms, images showing nudity and sexual content, and images showing personal information such as bank accounts. It’s part of a process known as data labeling, which is used to train AI models with images that have been pre-reviewed and annotated by humans so the AI ​​understands what it’s “looking at”.

Employees told the publication that many of the videos appeared to be moments shot when users were unaware they were being recorded. The group operates under Sama, the same Meta contractor that is facing a class action lawsuit on behalf of content moderators who claim they were exploited and forced to review offensive content without proper working conditions.

“You understand that it’s someone’s private life you’re looking at, but at the same time you’re expected to do the job. You shouldn’t ask questions. If you start asking, you’re gone,” another employee told the publication.

Meta’s Terms of Service reserves the right to refer user interactions with its AI services, including its live AI features, to human moderators – the company referred to this policy when asked to comment on news outlets.

Ray-Ban’s Meta smart glasses collaboration debuted in 2023 to mixed reviews about its photo and video capabilities and AI features. Meta released an improved AI-powered Meta Ray-Ban Display model in September, complete with a new Neural Band interface and promises of AI assistant integration that could make glasses of the future.

Glass sales tripled by 2025, CNBC reported, with more than 7 million units sold.

But in the months since, Meta’s wearable eye camera device has received widespread blowback, following a surge of influencer content showing Meta glasses wearers secretly filming and harassing strangers. Wearers have found ways to hide the glasses’ always-on light, which is intended to alert the public when the user is taking a video, and instead turn the smart device into a tool for photographers and pranksters alike.

In addition to concerns about personal consent, the device has raised concerns about the fast-growing web of surveillance and facial recognition technology, which Meta has previously been criticized for. The company later said it’s moving forward with live AI features, including facial recognition, potentially by 2025 – with the upgrade, the device “always keeps its cameras and sensors on and uses AI to remember what the wearer has experienced throughout the day.” Privacy advocates also warn that the technology could one day be used by third parties, including armed federal police.