Texas AG Ken Paxton says Meta\u2019s smart glasses raise privacy concerns tied to recordings, facial data and user information.<\/p>\n
AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched an investigation into Meta\u2019s smart glasses over concerns about how the devices may collect, process and potentially expose users\u2019 private information, according to a news release issued Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The investigation centers on Meta\u2019s AI glasses, which are equipped with cameras, speakers and communication tools that allow users to capture and share audio and video from their surroundings.<\/p>\n
According to the attorney general\u2019s office, Meta\u2019s privacy policy states the glasses have an \u201calways enabled\u201d mode that continuously processes video data for use with Meta AI products. The release said the devices also use an LED indicator light to signal when audio or video is being recorded, but officials raised concerns that the light can be hidden and does not activate during the glasses\u2019 always-on mode.<\/p>\n
WFAA reached out to Meta for comment on the investigation.<\/p>\n
“We also built in tamper detection that prevents capture if the LED is covered when a user is actively capturing photos or videos for their gallery. If the LED is covered, the user will be notified to clear it before they can initiate active capture,” a META spokesperson told WFAA.<\/p>\n
The release also cited concerns over how user information is handled.<\/p>\n
According to Paxton\u2019s office, individuals working for Meta subcontractor Sama in Kenya have claimed they could access users\u2019 private information despite Meta\u2019s privacy protections. The release said some workers reported viewing highly personal footage, including bathroom visits and other intimate moments.<\/p>\n
“Privacy and data protection are core to every product we build at Meta, including Ray-Ban Meta glasses. We’re ready to address the questions Attorney General Paxton has raised, which appear to come from reporting that doesn’t reflect the full picture of our work,” a META spokesperson told WFAA.<\/p>\n
The attorney general\u2019s office also pointed to reporting by The New York Times that indicated Meta plans to bring facial recognition technology to the glasses through a feature internally known as \u201cName Tag.\u201d According to the release, the feature could allow Meta to collect facial geometry from people captured by the glasses\u2019 cameras.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will continue to relentlessly stand up to any company that threatens the privacy and safety of Texans,\u201d Paxton said in the release. \u201cMeta\u2019s glasses raise serious concerns, and my office will thoroughly investigate these devices to ensure that no individual is being unlawfully recorded, tracked, or subjected to the unauthorized collection of their data.\u201d<\/p>\n
“We do not have facial recognition on our AI glasses,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. “We frequently hear about the interest in this type of feature \u2013 and some products already exist in the market. If we were to release such a feature, we would take a thoughtful approach if and before rolling anything out, in line with our Responsible Innovation Principles<\/a>, which are designed to help protect people\u2019s privacy.”<\/p>\n Paxton\u2019s office said it has issued a Civil Investigative Demand, or CID, to determine whether Meta \u201cdeceptively misrepresents\u201d its use of consumer data in violation of Texas law.<\/p>\n The release also noted that Paxton secured a $1.4 billion settlement with Meta in July 2024 related to allegations involving facial recognition technology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Texas AG Ken Paxton says Meta\u2019s smart glasses raise privacy concerns tied to recordings, facial data and user…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":301977,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-301976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/301977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}