Meta Ray-Ban glasses to store voice recordings automatically, raising privacy concerns.
Meta announced a new privacy policy detailing the same. Users can opt out of this, but they will have to disable all the hands-free AI features of the smart glasses.
Meta is gearing up to launch its AI-powered Ray-Ban smart glasses in India, but the rollout is already drawing scrutiny due to a significant change in the company’s privacy policy. Just ahead of the official India debut, Meta has informed users via email that it will now store all voice interactions by default, and the option to disable this data collection is being removed entirely.
Previously, users could opt out of having their voice recordings stored when using the AI features on the smart glasses. Under the updated policy, that choice is no longer available. Voice recordings will automatically be saved whenever the "Hey Meta" voice assistant is active, though users can still manually delete individual recordings through the device’s settings.
"Meta AI with camera use is always enabled on your glasses unless you turn off 'Hey Meta,'" the company said in its communication, as reported by The Verge. "Recordings of your voice are stored by default when using Meta AI and may be used to improve AI at Meta and other Meta products."
In addition to voice data, Meta’s new policy also enables camera usage by default. Photos and videos taken using the glasses are stored locally, unless the user activates Meta AI or cloud-based processing. If that happens, or if content is shared on Meta-owned platforms like Instagram or Facebook, the media may be uploaded to Meta’s servers and used for product development.
While Meta says users still retain some control over their data, this now hinges entirely on disabling the "Hey Meta" trigger. Doing so deactivates the hands-free AI features, leaving only the basic camera and audio functionalities of the smart glasses intact.
The second-generation Ray-Ban smart glasses, launched globally in 2023, boast features such as hands-free messaging, real-time translation, phone calls, music playback, and instant media capture. But as the product prepares to enter the Indian market, users may find themselves weighing the benefits of AI convenience against the implications for their data privacy.
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