Regulator contacts Meta over workers watching intimate AI glasses videos

Source: BBC Technology

Background

Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg demonstrated the Ray‑Ban Meta glasses in September 2025. The UK data watchdog is writing to Meta following a “concerning” report that outsourced workers were able to view sensitive content filmed by the company’s AI smart glasses.

Meta said subcontracted workers might sometimes review content, including films and images, captured by its AI smart glasses for the purpose of improving the “experience”.

“We see everything – from living rooms to naked bodies,” one worker reportedly said.

Videos—including of glasses‑wearers using the toilet or having sex—are sometimes reviewed by a Kenya‑based Meta subcontractor, according to an investigation by Swedish newspapers Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) and Göteborgs‑Posten (GP).

Meta’s response

Meta said it takes the protection of people’s data very seriously and is constantly refining its efforts and tools in that area.

“Ray‑Ban Meta glasses help you use AI, hands‑free, to answer questions about the world around you,” the tech giant told BBC News.
“When people share content with Meta AI, like other companies we sometimes use contractors to review this data to improve people’s experience with the glasses, as stated in our Privacy Policy. This data is first filtered to protect people’s privacy.”

According to Meta, filtering can include blurring faces in images, but sources who spoke to SvD and GP said this sometimes failed, allowing faces to be seen.

Users must activate recording manually or via a voice command, but may not realise their videos and images are sometimes reviewed by humans, as described in Meta’s extensive privacy policies and terms of service. In Meta’s UK AI terms of service, the company states:

“In some cases Meta will review your interactions with AIs… and this review may be automated or manual (human).”

UK ICO statement

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) told BBC News that “devices processing personal data, including smart glasses, should put users in control and provide for appropriate transparency”.

“Service providers must clearly explain what data is collected and how it is used,” the ICO said in a statement.
“The claims in this article are concerning. We will be writing to Meta to request information on how it is meeting its obligations under UK data protection law.”

Workers’ conditions

The workers the Swedish papers spoke to were data annotators, teaching Meta’s AI to interpret images by manually labelling content. They also reviewed transcripts of interactions with the AI to check that it answered questions adequately.

The annotators described privacy protections in their workplace, with cameras everywhere and no mobile phones permitted. Nevertheless, the content they saw was often extremely sensitive, including glasses‑wearers watching pornography. In one instance, a worker reported that a man’s glasses were left recording in a bedroom where they later filmed a woman—apparently the man’s wife—undressing.

Meta’s glasses have a light in the corner of the frames that turns on when the built‑in camera is recording images or video. The firm warns against misuse of the technology, advising users to show others when the recording light is on and to avoid recording in private spaces (Meta privacy guidance).

Misuse concerns

BBC News has approached the glasses‑makers’ parent company, EssilorLuxottica, for comment.

Rapid advancements in AI have resulted in a proliferation of wearable gadgets that use AI to interpret images and sounds captured by the device. Features can include translating text or responding to questions about what the user is looking at—a particularly useful capability for people who are blind or partially sighted.

However, as the devices have grown in popularity, concerns about their misuse have also increased. Women have previously told the BBC that they were filmed without their consent by users of smart glasses.

Data annotator Sama began as a non‑profit organisation with the aim of increasing employment through the provision of tech jobs. It is designated as an “ethical” B‑corp, but a previous contract providing content‑moderation services to tech companies attracted criticism (BBC report) and legal action by former employees. Sama has since stopped content‑moderation services and later said it regretted taking on this kind of work.