Meta is facing mounting pressure from US lawmakers after human reviewers reportedly watched people undressing, using the bathroom and engaging in sexual activity in footage captured by its AI-powered smart glasses.
Senators Ron Wyden and Edward Markey have written to chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, demanding detailed answers on how the company protects the privacy of those recorded by the devices, including people who do not know they are being filmed.
The senators want Meta to explain what privacy checks were carried out before launch, how captured imagery is used and whether people can have their data deleted.
Human Review Extends the Privacy Issue Beyond Recording
An earlier investigation by two Swedish news outlets found that third-party data labellers in Kenya viewed sexual content recorded through the glasses, according to Gizmodo. Contractors described footage showing people undressing, using the bathroom and engaging in sexual activity, the senators' letter says.
Those accounts raise questions about who can see sensitive material after it has been captured. The supplied reporting does not establish how often reviewers encountered such footage or whether the particular images were used to train AI models.
The senators also point to Meta disclosures stating that imagery processed through the glasses' visual AI features may be retained and used to train AI systems, including with help from human reviewers. That concerns what happens to imagery after capture, rather than simply whether a recording is made or published online.
Wearer Choices Leave Bystander Questions Open
Meta has introduced an option allowing wearers to prevent visual data from being retained for AI training, according to the letter as reported by VitalLaw. That gives owners a choice about that use of material processed through their devices.
The senators argue that the choice does not extend to everyone who appears in the images. They write that 'individuals captured without their consent have no corresponding control over the processing of their images or data'.
Their concern includes footage that is never posted publicly. In the senators' assessment, keeping and processing intimate imagery without the depicted person's consent creates a privacy problem in itself.
This places people recorded by someone else's glasses at the centre of the inquiry. They may not own a device or have access to the settings available to its wearer.
Senators Seek Details on Safeguards and Deletion
Meta reportedly ended the contractor relationship following the earlier investigation. The company also said in August that it had updated the glasses to prevent recording when a wearer covers the light intended to indicate recording, according to the earlier report.
Those actions concern different parts of the process: contractor access and recording visibility. The senators' request also addresses how Meta assesses risks and handles the material it receives.
They are asking whether Meta conducted detailed human rights due diligence and safety testing before releasing the glasses, how it evaluated privacy risks and what safeguards are now in place. The request seeks information about both pre-launch decisions and current protections.
They also want details of internal privacy analyses, the purposes for which captured images are used and whether both device owners and people recorded can request deletion of biometric and other data.
The senators have asked Zuckerberg to respond by 25 November. That response is requested to explain what protections exist for people on both sides of the camera, including those who never chose to wear the glasses.
