Memorandum
- From
- Derek Weston via Fortune | FORTUNE
- Date
- Filed
- News·5 min to read
- Re
Meta faces lawsuit over AI glasses recordings used to train systems
ReMeta faces lawsuit over AI glasses recordings used to train systems
A new amended lawsuit alleges Meta used footage from its AI-powered smart glasses to train AI systems without adequately disclosing how recordings were handled, including by bystanders who never wore the devices.
Meta is facing a new privacy lawsuit alleging that footage captured through its AI-powered smart glasses was used to train the company's artificial intelligence systems without adequate disclosure to users or the bystanders who were recorded. The amended complaint, filed August 31 in federal court in California, expands an earlier March lawsuit to include people who never purchased or wore the glasses but were captured by them unknowingly.
The lawsuit challenges Meta's marketing of the glasses as “designed for privacy, controlled by you,” while alleging that recordings captured through the devices were sent to third-party contractors who could view and label the material for AI development. According to the amended complaint, even when a bystander notices the glasses and agrees to be recorded, that person cannot have consented to the “mass amalgamation” of their data when the glasses are in AI mode, including visual recordings that are collected, stored, exploited, and visually inspected by persons overseas.
Ryan Clarkson, founder and managing partner of Clarkson Law Firm and co-lead counsel in the litigation, said the case reflects a broader push by major corporations to improve AI tools by gathering more content. “The way that they believe is the best way to improve their AI is to find more signal, to find more content, more recordings that they can feed into this machine, feeding the beast,” he said.
The case centers on how Meta's hardware connects the physical world to its AI systems. The glasses combine cameras and microphones, allowing users to ask questions about what they see, identify objects and landmarks, translate information, and capture photos and video hands-free. Meta's product website states that a capture LED illuminates when the camera is recording and that users can manage or delete photos, videos, and voice interactions through the company's software.
Clarkson argues that the software and hardware combine to build a “surveillance economy,” where big tech companies are locked in an “arms race.” He said the focus is on power and money, with the largest technology companies barreling ahead even if it means changing how society functions and who gets hurt as collateral damage.
The lawsuit alleges that Meta's privacy assurances do not tell the full story. When users activate AI features, imagery and audio can be transmitted to Meta's servers for analysis and, the plaintiffs allege, ultimately used to train Meta's AI models. The suit specifically challenges Meta's representations that the glasses were designed for privacy and that users remained in control of their data.
The allegations first gained traction after a February 2026 investigation by Swedish newspapers Svenska Dagbladet and Göteborgs-Posten, based in part on interviews with workers at Sama, a Kenya-based outsourcing company that performed data-annotation work for Meta. According to the reports, workers described reviewing footage captured by the Ray-Ban Meta glasses, including recordings containing highly intimate material. The investigation alleged the footage included people changing clothes, using bathrooms, and engaging in intimate activity, as well as visible financial and other personal information.
The original complaint cited those reports in arguing that Meta's privacy marketing concealed the existence of a human-review pipeline. It alleged the recordings were routed to Sama workers in Kenya, and some workers saw identifiable faces despite Meta's purported anonymization measures.
Meta disputes the allegations. “We disagree with these allegations and will fight them,” a Meta spokesperson said. “Our glasses help you use AI hands free to answer questions about the world around you. If you use Meta AI, we may review that data to help improve our products and people's experiences—this works the same way as many other companies.” The spokesperson added that the company takes “steps to filter this data to help remove identifying information and to protect people's privacy.”
The case is still in litigation, and the allegations have not been proven in court. The lawsuit comes shortly after Meta agreed to pay up to $18 billion over the next decade for a child-safety settlement.
