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Meta\u2019s AI glasses have a growing reputation as a creepy technology<\/a>. The company hopes to change that opinion by announcing an update that will disable the camera if the LED light that indicates the glasses are recording has been tampered with. <\/p>\n The move is seemingly a concession to consumer<\/a> sentiment<\/a> that the glasses aren\u2019t just fun, fashionable accessories, happily promoted by Kylie Jenner, but have serious implications for consumer privacy: They can be abused as surveillance devices.<\/p>\n Yet, even as Meta touts the new safeguard this week, the company is also pushing products and features that ask users to surrender more of their privacy to the company. <\/p>\n Whether that\u2019s training its AI on your images<\/a>, enabling AI features using your personal content<\/a> unless you opt out, or exploring ways to continuously record<\/a> or use biometric facial recognition<\/a>, Meta\u2019s vision of the future seems to always depend on collecting more of your personal data.<\/p>\n In its blog post<\/a> about the new camera safety feature, the company pats itself on the back, noting that \u201cno other kind of camera has done this and we\u2019re proud to lead the industry effort.\u201d However, Meta also admits that the move was necessary because some people had been using tape to cover the LED light, which had already forced Meta to adapt its tech to disable recording when the LED is blocked.<\/p>\n Determined, those same AI glasses creeps would then use \u201csophisticated efforts to modify or destroy the capture LED,\u201d Meta\u2019s announcement explains. <\/p>\n In other words, Meta is confirming that some people who use AI glasses have hidden agendas \u2014 namely a desire to record situations or people (often<\/a> women<\/a>) without their consent.<\/p>\n Despite this, the company is reportedly testing a prototype of AI glasses that would \u201ccontinuously collect audio while taking photos every few seconds,\u201d sources recently told Financial Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meta\u2019s blog post about the glasses feature attempts to assuage people\u2019s fears about the devices\u2019 privacy by answering questions like \u201cwho can see the photos and videos I take on my glasses?\u201d Meta answers by promising, \u201cYou, and only you \u2014 unless you choose to share them.\u201d Yet, Meta\u2019s privacy policy<\/a> has explained that any image you share with Meta AI can be used to train its AI<\/a>.<\/p>\n All the while, the company is facing multiple investigations<\/a> and lawsuits<\/a> over Meta AI glasses privacy violations. One lawsuit comes after<\/a> Meta notably canceled a contract with an outsourced tech firm after some of its Kenyan workers alleged they had to view graphic content, like sex, nudity, and people using the toilet<\/a>, while training Meta\u2019s AI using people\u2019s Meta AI glasses\u2019 videos.<\/p>\n These are hardly Meta\u2019s first scrapes with privacy violations or safety measures, either. <\/p>\n Arguably, Meta\u2019s reputation on privacy has been tainted for years after numerous<\/a> leaks and lost lawsuits<\/a> about its alleged lack of child safety measures<\/a> and desire for growth at all costs<\/a>. There are books by whistleblowers<\/a> documenting its alleged abuses<\/a>, not to mention previous large-scale privacy disasters, like the Cambridge Analytica data scandal<\/a> and others<\/a>.<\/p>\n After the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal, Meta now insists on its Privacy Progress Update page<\/a>, \u201cSince 2019, we\u2019ve invested significantly in people, products, and technology to continue to evolve our rigorous privacy program.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, the company plows forward with what many people would consider privacy-violating ideas. Case in point: On the same day it announced the Meta glasses\u2019 new safeguard, it shared that Meta AI can now use anyone\u2019s public Instagram photos<\/a> to make AI images, unless you opt out<\/a>.<\/p>\n It also built features to use Meta AI on images in your Camera Roll you\u2019ve never shared<\/a> and implemented such poor privacy controls<\/a> in its Meta AI app, leading users to essentially dox themselves by revealing their embarrassing searches<\/a>.<\/p>\n This is the same company that Apple wouldn\u2019t partner with due to privacy concerns<\/a>, that records its employees\u2019 keystrokes to train its AI<\/a>, and that plans to sell targeted ads based on data in your AI chats.<\/a><\/p>\n So, while an LED safeguard on AI glasses might be a necessary feature, consumers clearly still have many reasons to remain distrustful of how social media will use their images and data, especially in its broader AI plans.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission<\/a>. This doesn\u2019t affect our editorial independence.<\/em><\/p>\n