Some Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses were recording conversations without anyone saying "Hey Meta," and Meta says the bug is now fixed. Owners started flagging it on Reddit this week, including one user who said it happened across three pairs with the "Respond without Hey Meta" setting turned off, and that the Meta AI app had saved "audio recordings and text transcripts of these conversations" in their history.
Android Authority reported the complaints on Tuesday and got a short statement from Meta the same day: "This issue has been resolved. People can manage, review, and delete voice logs of their interactions with Meta AI via settings at any time."
That's all Meta has said. It hasn't explained the cause, though the Reddit user said the behavior started after a recent firmware update, and it hasn't said how many glasses were affected. Ars Technica has asked both questions.
Meta's usual answer to privacy worries is the LED that lights up when the glasses record. That doesn't help much when the wearer doesn't know a recording started either. The timing isn't great for Meta, which just put the glasses' microphones front and center with its camera-free Ray-Ban Meta audio glasses, and which already faces a proposed class action and a Texas investigation over footage reviewed by contractors.
— via Ars Technica