Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses reportedly eavesdrop on conversations

The Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 and Gen 3 ($529 on Amazon) have raised privacy concerns ever since their launch, as the glasses can constantly monitor the wearer's surroundings through a camera and microphones, potentially collecting private data. To reassure concerned customers, Meta has published a comprehensive privacy webpage that, among other things, assures users that the glasses are only active if they have first been manually activated with a "Hey Meta" voice command or a touch on the temple.

However, users are now reporting on Reddit that this is not always the case. Even when the setting that allows the AI assistant to respond without "Hey Meta" has been explicitly disabled, several users report that audio recordings and transcripts keep appearing in the companion smartphone app. Although the LED on the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses lights up during recording, the AI assistant does not respond, so the recording goes unnoticed. This issue affects both the Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 and the Gen 3, making a hardware defect in just a few pairs of glasses unlikely.

Judging by the sheer number of user reports, this issue is widespread. Meta has not yet commented on whether this is a bug or whether the company is deliberately collecting additional data. When asked by a user, Meta support merely said that disabling the glasses' access to the microphones and cameras would solve the problem – except that this would leave the glasses with virtually no functionality.