According to a report by The Verge today (the 28th), Meta has released an update for its AI smart glasses to patch a privacy vulnerability related to the recording indicator light.
Previously, if wearers covered the front-facing LED indicator after starting a recording, the camera could continue operating. Alex Himmel, Meta’s vice president of augmented reality, said in a Threads post that after the update, the camera will stop working if the indicator light is covered during recording.
Meta’s smart glasses already had a restriction that disabled the built-in camera whenever the LED recording indicator was covered. The indicator light flashes when taking photos or recording videos to alert people nearby.
However, some people discovered that the restriction could be bypassed by starting a recording first and then covering the indicator light. This fix comes just over a month after Meta’s previous effort to strengthen protection for the recording indicator. That update would shut off the camera when users physically interfered with the indicator light.
Himmel wrote: “We will continue releasing similar updates to ensure that when someone takes photos or videos and saves them to their personal camera roll, the LED recording indicator reliably alerts people nearby. Only a very small number of people will try to bypass these protections, and the fact that they have to go to such great lengths to do so is itself evidence that our measures are effective.”
ITHome understands that Meta’s smart glasses have long faced questions about privacy and harassment. Some people have recorded others without their consent, while others have treated random passersby as targets for social media “pranks.” Combined with earlier reports that Meta was preparing to add facial recognition to its smart glasses, controversy surrounding these products eventually evolved into a global boycott campaign.
Meta has also begun actively promoting the LED recording indicator in hopes of improving consumer awareness of the feature. Meta spokesperson Albert Ayden said the campaign would focus on communities “where glasses sales are relatively high.”
For example, a Meta smart glasses billboard in Los Angeles says: “The camera lets you capture the moment, while the indicator light tells everyone nearby when you are recording.”