The British Data Protection Authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office (Information Commissioner’s Office or ICO), will transfer to Goal its concern over reports that outsourced workers can access sensitive content recorded by the company’s smart glasses. Meta has several models of this type of glasses, equipped with a camera and microphones, which it has launched since 2021 in collaboration with companies such as Ray-Ban and Oakley and that have opened a new market niche.
The social media giant, which has a long history of poor privacy practices, has explained that outsourced workers are used to review contentincluding videos and images captured by their AI smart glasses. The company maintains that it does this in order to improve the experience of using the glasses.
An investigation by the Swedish newspapers Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) and Goteborgs-Posten (GP) has discovered that subcontractors in countries such as Kenyawhere salaries are lower, can watch the recorded videos, which sometimes they include people using the bathroom or having sexual relations.
The subcontractors have signed confidentiality agreements Before taking on the job, they are monitored by cameras in the office and are not allowed to carry their own phones nor any device that can record. Failure to comply with these agreements can lead to dismissal and poverty, so they act to a certain extent as deterrent so that employees do not share what they have seen through the glasses.
In addition to capturing private moments, subcontractors point out that sometimes people don’t even realize that the glasses are recordingbut by then it is too late, because Meta already has the data to review. The workers also say they have seen people’s bank cards or having seen them consuming pornography while wearing the glasses, something that could damage their reputation if leaked.
Data annotators also work with transcripts in which they check whether the AI assistant in the glasses responds correctly to queries. And those AI queries are not exactly innocuous, but can be about any topic, including crimes or ‘very dark things’.
According to the investigation, journalists who tested the glasses stated that there is no real option to opt out of data collection if they want to use AI functions, and Meta warns that users should not share sensitive information.
The ICO has told BBC News that it is concerned about what the investigation has uncovered and insists that Meta must clearly explain to consumers what is collected and how it is used.