More than 70 people who bought, used or were recorded by Meta’s smart glasses have joined a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging the devices captured private moments — including nudity, bathroom use, sex and people entering passwords — that were later reviewed by overseas contractors helping train the company’s artificial intelligence.
The lawsuit, amended in late August, includes plaintiffs in California. Some say they were unaware the glasses were recording them at all.
One California plaintiff, identified in the filing as PL18, said he discovered photos of relatives bathing and using the bathroom in his photo gallery after leaving his glasses on a bathroom counter. The lawsuit states: “He noticed that at times photos of his family members using the bathroom and bathing began appearing in his gallery — footage no one in his household intended to take.”
The suit alleges the sensitive images were sent to contractors in Kenya who review and label data used to improve Meta’s AI systems. It cites a February investigation by Swedish newspapers Svenska Dagbladet and Göteborgs-Posten, in which more than 30 current and former employees of Meta subcontractor Sama, along with former Meta workers, said they reviewed images captured through the glasses and that faces were sometimes visible despite efforts to blur them.
Plaintiffs allege that video and audio can be transmitted to Meta when a wearer says “Hey Meta” to activate the AI assistant, and that the feature can sometimes be triggered unintentionally.
Tina Wolfson, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, told the Los Angeles Times the case also involves people who never agreed to be recorded or have their images used to develop AI.
“People who bought these glasses and thought that they were cool gadgets weren’t aware that every time they activated AI, video was sent to train Meta’s AI,” Wolfson said.
Meta disputes the allegations and says it intends to fight the lawsuit. A company spokesperson told the Times that when people use Meta AI, some data may be reviewed to improve its products, and that Meta takes steps to remove identifying information and protect privacy.
The case arrives just before Meta is set to unveil its latest wearable devices at its developers conference in Menlo Park on Sept. 23. The company markets its smart glasses as a hands-free way to take photos and videos, make calls, listen to audio and interact with Meta AI.
Facial recognition concerns in a separate suit
The legal scrutiny extends beyond video capture to facial recognition technology Meta has considered building into its glasses. Meta Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth discussed a potential feature called “NameTag” in July that could help wearers recall the names of people they meet.
A separate proposed class-action lawsuit filed this month in Illinois alleges Meta used photographs publicly posted on Facebook and Instagram to train artificial intelligence that could eventually power NameTag and other facial-recognition tools.
California resident Jeremy Wahl is among the plaintiffs in that case. According to the lawsuit, Wahl posted photos of himself and his daughter on Facebook and Instagram. His Instagram account is public, and his Facebook account was previously public. He alleges Meta never told him those photographs could be used to train NameTag and believes the company has done so.
“People shouldn’t have to worry if their biometric information will be misused simply because their photographs appear on a social media platform,” said Justin Boley, an attorney representing the plaintiffs.
