Meta's 'Super Sensing' Prototype Glasses Quietly Record Everything

[MacRumors]

Meta has prototyped "super sensing" smart glasses that use cameras and audio recordings to capture the wearer's every moment, reports the Financial Times ($).

The smart glasses continuously collect audio while taking photos every few seconds, allowing the user to leverage AI to help query what they saw or heard, or recall their day, according to the report's sources.

Meta's current AI smart glasses have an LED in the corner of the frame that lights up to signal to others when a wearer is taking photographs or filming. But Meta executives don't want to activate the LED when the super-sensing features are turned on.

In one proposed system, raw footage and audio would not be stored by Meta or made available to the user, several people said. Instead, the metadata from that audio and images would be extracted and uploaded to the server for Meta's AI to query, which proponents argue would have fewer privacy implications.

The company is also discussing whether data collected through the glasses and their features could be used to train its own AI models, as it pours billions into rivalling competition such as OpenAI, Google and Anthropic in the AI race.

The report suggests the features could be activated on Meta's existing glasses via a software update.

Meta's plan, which could still change, highlights the obvious civil liberty and privacy risks of smart glasses. Privacy experts argue that always-on devices could violate data privacy or biometric data laws. It is also unclear whether the company or the wearer would be liable for potential violations of wiretapping laws, given that several U.S. states prohibit recording third-party conversations without consent.

Meta's existing Ray-Ban smart glasses already lack a visual indicator when AI is being used to analyze the wearer's surroundings. The company says it safeguards privacy by stripping out key identifying information.

In February, it was reported that the social media giant had an inactive facial recognition feature embedded in its Ray-Ban smart glasses platform. The company later removed the system.

Apple is widely expected to release its first smart glasses in 2027, designed in-house rather than through a partner brand.

Apple's smart glasses are expected to include cameras, microphones, and AI capabilities, and will have the ability to take photos, record video, provide translations, give turn-by-turn directions, and more. However, they won't have augmented reality capabilities, and it's not clear how Apple will manage privacy concerns.

Article Link: Meta's 'Super Sensing' Prototype Glasses Quietly Record Everything

 

[Seanm87]

There is 0 chance Meta won’t use this for ads and to collect personal data. I don’t care what they say/claim. This would be a gold mine for them.

 

[Jarman74]

But Meta executives don't want to activate the LED when the super-sensing features are turned on.

Whenever you feel Meta can’t sink any lower, brace yourself to be unpleasantly surprised.

 

[jyw104]

Someone will have to find a way of ID-ing these glasses in the open. I will have no quarrel with anyone who decides to stomp on them if found.

 

[fatTribble]

I don’t think this is the future I saw from watching The Jetsons as a kid.

 

[syklee26]

of course Creepy Zuchcreep will use whatever data collected without consent, and he will use wearer of his pervglasses to encroach subjects' lives.

Perhaps he should really consider moving to China so people won't hate him as much.

 

[NicosAccount]

I sincerely hope these kinds of things will flop like the metaverse

 

[Blackstick]

One of the better decisions I’ve made in life beyond buying Apple at $18 was to leave Facebook in 2010.

 

[RemedyRabbit]

Genuinely, wtf is going on. This is a nightmare on so many levels. I’ve loved tech my whole life but things like this are really started to turn me against it.

 

[All Taken]

Zuckerberg is such a gross man. I wish he could've spent some time out with others after college, just grounding himself, learning key social skills and decorum. Instead he mutated into this behemoth of an insensitive data sweeper, who must simply know and control whatever he wakes up feeling like is important.

 

[Ctrlos]

Always remember that Zuckerberg has enough cash to liquidate Meta and give all his employees a $1m severence. Everything he does is a choice.

 

[JohnRckr]

I expect nothing else from such sewage as Meta. I am glad I don’t use any of their stuff.
Google also.

 

[idmean]

Genuinely, wtf is going on. This is a nightmare on so many levels. I’ve loved tech my whole life but things like this are really started to turn me against it.

Indeed. The thought process behind this is incomprehensible. Who wants this? It's just big corporate greed, right?

 

[Diopter]

Has Mark Zuckerberg been watching Black Mirror again?

What weirdos are wearing these creepy things...

 

[iPay]

The sole purpose of these glasses is to feed the Big Data Vault. By the way, the peripheral here is not the glasses, it's the human.

 

[SilmarilFinder]

What really gets me is people actually pay Meta to invade their privacy 🤦‍♂️. Imagine buying your own surveillance device, feeding an ad company your entire day, then wondering why everything you see becomes another targeted advert. Peak consumerism.

 

[Falco McGregor]

Meta certainly is the company most people would associate with the careful, measured and unselfish use of a new technology with major privacy implications. How could you not feel assured and protected with Zuckerberg at the helm here?

 

[iMac The Knife]

I honestly can't believe a person would ever buy and wear these creepy weirdo glasses. I also can't believe that recording people without their consent, be it in public or otherwise, is legal (in the US anyway). What a world...for creeps, weirdos, and the like I suppose.

 

[tubular]

The smart glasses continuously collect audio while taking photos every few seconds, allowing the user to leverage AI to help query what they saw or heard, or recall their day, according to the report's sources.

Zuckwit MUST HAVE your data. By hook or by crook.

 

[McWetty]

I’m going to need some of those facial recognition blocking sunglasses. The ones that wash your face with nUV light to confuse the cameras.

 

[H2SO4]

Genuinely, wtf is going on. This is a nightmare on so many levels. I’ve loved tech my whole life but things like this are really started to turn me against it.

Get used to it. This WILL be the norm everywhere in the future. Even if companies don't do it, the authorities or individuals will.

 

[contacos]

Imagine paying for those to help them train their AI models 💀

 

[dominiongamma]

It’s kind of scary that my boss uses these glasses at work, and no one questions it because they look like traditional glasses

 

[Falco McGregor]

I honestly can't believe a person would ever buy and wear these creepy weirdo glasses. I also can't believe that recording people without their consent, be it in public or otherwise, is legal (in the US anyway). What a world...for creeps, weirdos, and the like I suppose.

This story about how the Meta glasses were “accidentally” recording people wearing them in potentially compromising situations did not nearly get the play it deserved. When/if Apple enters this product category it will be interesting to see how they handle this and contrast themselves with Meta.

Workers report watching Ray-Ban Meta-shot footage of people using the bathroom

Meta accused of "concealing the facts" about smart glass users' privacy.

arstechnica.com

 

[H2SO4]

I honestly can't believe a person would ever buy and wear these creepy weirdo glasses. I also can't believe that recording people without their consent, be it in public or otherwise, is legal (in the US anyway). What a world...for creeps, weirdos, and the like I suppose.

I don't think you're being realistic. Not even remotely.
They look just like a LOT of ordinary glasses I've seen people wearing day to day. Now if you can buy some glasses that may help you out and you're in to IT or maybe you're simply going for a walk in the street/wilderness and want to document it, couple that with the fact that these look FAR less hassle to hold than a phone, especially for someone that already normally wears glasses.